


My Honor

by Applepye, dondena



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-05
Updated: 2015-03-05
Packaged: 2018-03-16 11:00:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 24
Words: 39,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3485783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Applepye/pseuds/Applepye, https://archiveofourown.org/users/dondena/pseuds/dondena
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The turtle brothers have been captured by the Foot. Leo goes through a series of tortures to protect his brothers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Leo wondered how this big mess had even started. 

Right now, he and his brothers were all restrained by shackles in a cell who knows where by the Foot. They could all look and talk to each other, but they couldn’t touch one another. 

Mikey was the most scared of them all. He sat by the wall with his arms wrapped around his knees. 

“I want to go home.” Mikey whimpered.

“We will. As soon as we can figure out a way out of here.” Leo said. 

“And how are we gonna do that, Leo?” Raph growled. “This was all your fault!” 

“My fault? Raph, you were the one who charged in there like a hothead. We had to make sure you weren’t going to get into trouble on your own.” 

Leo and Raph had been fighting for many days on end. Leo didn’t even know why his brother was so mad at him. He was doing his best to be a good leader and big brother, but Raph was defying him at every word and turn. 

Why the turtles were here in this place, they didn’t know other than enemies wanting to punish them somehow. And they knew they would. 

They had all been on patrol tonight, encountered a Foot warehouse and they were doing business that was bad business. Getting ready to transport some technology that was going to be deadly in their hands. 

Leo had tried to plan this out, but Raph was ready for some action and he didn’t listen to his older brother. He had just jumped right in without a second thought and the Foot turned defensive, but were now attacking him on purpose too. 

“We can’t let him do this alone.” Don had said. 

“Come on.” Leo groaned and all three jumped down into the warehouse they were on. There were many ninjas in there. Raph couldn’t take all of them on his own. 

It had been a good fight where most of the ninjas were taken out, but in the end, all the turtles had been tranquilized and knocked out. 

They hadn’t known how long they were out, but they woke up in this cell, shackles on their wrists. They were just barely able to move. The chains allowed for very little movement and they were attached to the walls. 

They had also discovered they had no weapons on them whatsoever. They still had their masks, elbow and knee pads, and belts on, but all their weapons had been taken, even the flying stars in their belts. Leo’s sword harness was off too. 

“Master Splinter’s going to be so worried where we are.” Leo muttered. 

“Oh, I’m sure he misses you the most, Splinter Junior!” Raph snarled at him. “You’re so perfect to him.”

Leo gave Raph a sharp glare. He knew he wasn’t perfect, but he did want to be the best at just being able to protect his family. And he hated being called both Fearless and Splinter Junior.

“I don’t know what it is I did to make you so mad Raph. Can’t you just tell me what it is?” Leo asked. 

“Everything. Everything about you is making me mad.” 

“Could you be more specific?” 

Mike and Don sure hated to see their oldest brothers fighting, and they had no choice but to listen to it right now. But then, before Raph could even attempt to answer, the door unlocked, and in stepped some Foot ninjas. There were 5 of them. 

The boys all looked up at them angrily. They would find out what they wanted. 

Raph tried to get up and charge them, but the shackles held strong and held him down to the floor. “You betta’ let us go if you know what’s good for ya!” He yelled at them. 

“You can’t even get off that floor, Freak.” One of the ninjas laughed at him. “So which one do we want for the tests first?”

Mike and Don had the most nervous looks. Leo and Raph glared, but they too were nervous. 

The ninjas scanned them carefully. Then one of them pointed at Mikey. 

Mike’s eyes widened. He began moving toward Donny, who was beside him. 

“That one!” 

Leo couldn’t let that happen. “NO! Don’t take him!” 

“And what are you going to do about it?” Another ninja sneered at him. 

“Take me! Don’t hurt my brother! Take me in his place.” 

“It doesn’t always work that way, Freak.”

“No, wait. The master probably wouldn’t mind this one being taken. He wants to get back at that one for so much that he’s done to him.” One of the ones on the right of the lead ninja spoke up. 

The turtles waited and listened. Another ninja had spoken up and was whispering in the lead one’s ear. 

“Alright, Blue Turtle. You’re the one then. Unlock his chains.” The lead ninja ordered. 

Leo knew what he wanted to do. Get the keys from the one holding them that was now coming forward, but two more accompanied him. He knew he could beat these guys even without his swords, and he was going to try. 

“If you think you’re going to get out of here, think again.” The one with the keys said, now standing in front of the lead turtle. 

The key holder stepped aside, and then, one of the others jammed a needle into Leo’s right arm. 

The needle had been unseen, and Leo couldn’t help but cry out in pain. 

“Leo!” Don and Mike cried out in unison. 

Raph hadn’t said anything, but he was getting worried now too for his brother. 

The drug started to take effect really quick. Leo felt dizzy in the head. He moaned, then began to collapse against the wall. 

“He’s all yours now.” 

The two ninjas now came forward and got a hold of Leo’s arms while the key holder undid the bonds. Then Leo was pulled to his feet. 

“Hey! Get your nasty hands offa my brother!” Raph snarled. 

The ninjas ignored Raph and continued to take Leo from the room. 

Leo’s vision was a little blurry, but he could still walk enough to where they didn’t have to drag him. He didn’t know if the drug was going to knock him completely out, or it was just a mild sedative to where he wasn’t going to fight them. 

Don, Mikey, and Raph all struggled in their bonds to try to help Leo, but they were held back on the floor. Even Raph still cared about Leo that he didn’t want him taken away and tortured.

The men paid no attention to the struggling turtles and once they had their chosen one out of the room, they closed and locked the door behind them.


	2. Chapter 2

Leo tried to pay attention to where they were taking him so he could get away later on and get back to his brothers and free them. But his blurry vision wasn’t letting him see too well to remember which way they were taking him. His head was spinning so badly that it was hard to focus on anything other than walking. 

He could feel the heavy grip the humans had on his arms. It was almost so tight they were cutting off circulation. 

Eventually, a door was unlocked and Leo knew he could only expect the worst. He really hoped it wasn’t a dissection room. 

When the door was opened, Leo was shoved inside, and, with being drugged, he couldn’t catch himself and fell to his hands and knees. He grunted at the landing. 

“Have fun, you freak!” The ninjas laughed at him and locked him inside the room. 

Leo looked around the room he was in. He tried to get his vision to focus. From what he could see, he was in a big white room. It had matting on the floor. It was a dojo, Leo realized. 

‘Great. I’m put in a dojo to fight, and I can barely see straight in front of me.’ Leo thought to himself. 

The turtle was being watched in the dojo by the Shredder and his ninjas. 

“So, what do you want to do first, Master?” 

“How strong was the drug you injected into him?” Shredder asked. 

“A very mild one. It was just so he wouldn’t try to fight us while we were letting him loose to get him here. It’ll wear off in another hour.” 

“Good. Wait until it wears off, and then get some fighters in there. He’s going to be broken down by constant challenges first, and no room for long breaks.” 

“Yes, Master.”   
………….

Leo had crawled over to the wall to try to regain his senses. As the hour wore on, his vision began to clear and focus again. He still had some dizziness in his head a little bit, but he was doing better. 

He had been a little surprised that no one had come into the room while he was like this. The Foot had always been known to have no honor. 

He got to his feet and began to examine the walls and doors in the room, following the wall. He tested it to see if there was any chance of escape from the room. There were no lapses in the walls and the doors were all sealed shut and locked tight. There was no way he was getting out, at least not until someone unlocked them to come in. 

Leo knew someone was going to come in eventually. He was just glad that he hadn’t been taken to a lab room to be tied down. But it couldn’t be ruled out at all. It could always happen later. 

It didn’t take much longer for the doors on the other side of the room to unlock and Leo looked over. Twenty ninjas filed into the dojo. They were all armed with weapons. 

And talk of no honor, they all had weapons and here he was, sword-less. 

He knew he was fully capable of dealing with enemies without his katanas, but when they had the weapons and he was without; his odds weren’t all that good for avoiding some injuries if they were well trained fighters. 

Leo really hoped that the ninjas would toss him his swords back, but they never did. He was in a battle stance regardless of the consequences. He wasn’t going to let these ninjas take him down without a good fight. He was as ready as he could ever be. He would also just have to get some swords away from any of the ninjas he could take down. 

The turtle waited for them to make the first move. He was completely surrounded. He couldn’t watch all of them at the same time, but he would do his best. 

Some ninjas with some swords charged him. 

Leo tried to stay clear of the blades themselves. He kicked many of them aside and managed to grab two katana from two different ninjas. Now that he had some weapons of his own, the fight could really begin. 

Swords clashed together many times, and also with many different weapons throughout the fight. But Leo was soon standing triumphant over the twenty Foot ninjas. They were all unconscious or barely awake. Leo tucked the two swords into his belt for safe keeping. 

The ones who were able to get up dragged their sleeping or injured comrades out of the room. Leo tried to get out as well, but he was kept inside with a kick against the wall from an Elite that stood just outside the dojo. 

He was winded for a moment, but regained his senses pretty quick. Leo knew he had to remain on his toes in this place. 

About ten minutes later, another twenty ninja came into the room. 

‘Great. Just as I get done with one batch, another has to come in.’ Leo thought to himself. 

Leo figured that the Foot soldiers wanted to wear him down in some way. But he would fight till his last breath. He would do everything he could to save his brothers most of all.


	3. Chapter 3

Leo beat this batch of twenty ninjas too. By this time, he was started to get tired of fighting. Just so many would keep on coming at him. He could feel the start of the ache in his muscles but carefully stretched it to help ease the cramping feeling. 

Another batch was sent in about fifteen minutes later. Leo was getting only a few minutes to catch his breath before the next round. 

Once again, the turtle beat this batch of twenty also, but at a cost. He could now feel the strain on his muscles, he could feel them pulling with each movement and the beginning of the burn, which stated they were getting overworked. 

Then, it was only a five minute rest before another good sized bunch came in, but this time, there were thirty. 

Leo was resting by the wall. Just the sight of so many made him feel like his muscles were burning worse than perhaps what they actually were. ‘You have got to be kidding.’ 

He got up, ready to face the ninjas. He just wanted a longer rest period first, but he knew they wouldn’t wait for him to catch his second wind. 

Kicks, back kicks, punches, everything that could be done to defend himself was done, but this time, Leo didn’t escape the wrath of some blades. 

He got a good cut on his left shoulder and many bruises when they got him down. Exhaustion had gotten to him this time around. 

Leo was left lying on the floor, breathless, and blood from his shoulder flowing onto the mats. He couldn’t move. His whole body hurt. He could feel the ache settling into his bones, could feel the muscles and tendons swelling and bruising from the blows. He could feel the burn of his lungs as they strove to get as much oxygen as possible into his oxygen starved body. He could hear the pounding of his heartbeat in his head, the constant drumming adding to the pain which already radiated through him. 

The ninjas moved out of the room, proud of what they had accomplished. Leonardo was a tough turtle to take down, but he wasn’t invincible. 

It took Leo a little while to catch his breath back, but he had his right hand on his shoulder as he gingerly and slowly sat up. He looked at the wound. It was a good size and would need stitches no doubt. But he’d be lucky if his enemies would even treat his wounds. Propping himself against the wall he hoped it would stop bleeding soon. He couldn’t afford to be weakened further than he already was. 

It had only been twenty minutes when another group came into the dojo. Only this time, there were fifteen.

Leo groaned. ‘Please, not again.’ 

The turtle saw that the numbers varied each time. But Leo wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep this up. The more he fought, the more his energy was drained and now with his injuries, that drain was going to happen faster. 

But it didn’t matter how drained he was. He wouldn’t let it show, or even if it did, Leo wouldn’t stop fighting. He was here so that Mikey didn’t have to be and he was going to endure as much of it as possible, after all if they were focused on him they weren’t hurting his brothers. Despite his internal and external bravado, though ultimately he just wanted to get out of here and back to his brothers. 

Many more bruises and strained muscles were gotten from the exhaustion kicking in, which also got a scratch above his right eye and a split lip. He could feel the skin around the wounds swelling and it all added to his fatigue and discomfort. 

After this fight, Leo was left alone in the dojo. He was left totally tired and exhausted, and injured. His whole body ached and throbbed that he couldn’t even accurately identify where he was worst injured, it all seemed to fade into a mass pain which pulsated through him. 

The Foot would do more with him later on, but right now, they would let him refresh himself so to speak.

Leo sat up against the wall. He hoped he wouldn’t have to fight again in just a few minutes. He was so wanting some water right about now. He was hot, worn out, and thirsty. The liquid would refresh him, restore to his tortured body a little sustenance and some water could also help to treat his wounds.

The doors never opened.   
………… 

Don, Raph, and Mikey all hoped their oldest brother was ok. He had been gone for quite some time now.

"I’m hungry." Mikey complained. 

Don and Raph groaned. 

"We’ll try to get out of here as soon as we can, Mikey." Don said, "after we rescue Leo." 

"Or he saves us." Mike said. 

"I don’t need to wait on Leo to save my shell." Raph said and went on pulling on his bonds again, his flesh being torn in the process. Raph didn’t seem to care though. He just wanted out of here. 

All three of them had some wounds on their wrists from pulling so hard, but Raph was getting the worst of them, since he wouldn’t stop pulling at them. Donny knew he was really going to need to take care his wrists when they got home. 

Don really hoped Leo was going to be okay on his own. He knew his brother could take care of himself most of the time, but with the grudge that the Shredder held against him most of all, he knew it was a matter of time before even Leo could be taken down. 

And though none of them had been separated yet, it was probably a matter of time for them too. The Foot were never known to keep promises. 

Leo had had himself taken in order to save his brothers and so far, his bargain was working, but for how long?   
………….. 

It was a few days later. 

Leonardo was still in the Shredder’s dojo. It was one of the breaks in between fights. The turtle was beyond exhausted and the swords had now been taken away from him. 

He was so tired and worn out. He was hungry and thirsty. His mouth was so dry. When his stomach growled, Leo tried so hard to not think about food. He had a feeling he wasn’t to going to be fed for quite some time. 

Right now, his main train of thought had to be on staying alive. The Foot was not letting him take long rest periods or letting him sleep.

It had only been fifteen minutes and then the door opened and another good batch came in. Leo looked up from where he was at the wall. His body hurt so much to move. He had so many bruises and cuts from all the fights. His body no longer responded with the speed and accuracy he normally possessed. He was worn down but he still had his pride. 

As tired and sore as he was, Leo pushed himself up. He would not stop fighting until he had no other choice. A wave of dizziness went through his head. His vision swam for a moment, his head throbbing, feeling like his brain was trying to beat its way out of his skull. Leo couldn’t help but put a hand to his head. 

The ninjas saw his moment of weakness and charged him. All of them wanted a chance to take this turtle on and take him down for all the times he had done it to them. 

When Leo heard footsteps running, he opened his eyes, his vision blurring and twisting, confusing the image before him. He had no time to move. 

A ninja had run into him full blast and hit him in the chest, knocking him down onto his shell. The move caused a new sharp pain to radiate out of his chest. 

Leo grunted at the landing, the wind taken out of him. But despite being down, he was still aware of things happening about him. He looked up in time to see a sledge hammer brought down onto his left arm. 

There was a SNAP in his arm and Leo knew his arm was broken. He couldn’t help but cry out in agonized pain. The arm was useless now, but it was affecting him worse than anything else. Sharp unrelenting torment washed over him, threatening to consume him at any moment. 

He was given no reprieve, barely moments after his arm was crushed, he was hit in the stomach. It was so hard to breathe, his diaphragm shuddering with each attempt to draw breathe. The muscle spasmed and clenched, unsure how to function correctly. Nausea welled inside the winded turtle. 

The ninjas backed off for the moment. 

Leo clutched his injured arm to his plastron. He tried to get up when he caught his breath enough, ever the ninja he didn’t want to stay down. He was on his one good hand and his knees when he was kicked in his left shoulder and it made him go down again onto his side. The feeling of muscles and ligaments tearing against smashed bones in his arms made him gag and wretch. 

Leo was so sore now that he couldn’t help the cry of pain that escaped his throat and the tears which began to drip uncontrollably down his face. 

When he looked up at the ninjas standing above him, he saw one of them raise a katana on him. He couldn’t move in time to avoid the sword, instead resigning himself to the blow which a tiny part of him hoped would end this tormented existence he currently experienced.

The katana cut into the sensitive, tender flesh of his left side. 

Leo’s cry of pain was even louder this time, a blood curdling shriek of pure unadulterated agony. He didn’t want to give the ninjas the satisfaction, but he just couldn’t help it right now. His body and mind could take no more. 

The sword was imbedded in his side for a moment and then sliced downward, creating a long, deep cut. It drew more torturous sounds from Leo, sounds that had even the hardened ninja who were assaulting him cringing.

When the katana was removed from the wound, Leo was left panting hard, each exhale ending in a small whimper while his side remained open and bleeding.

He was now so severely wounded that he just couldn’t move; he was defeated. 

Despite mentally resigning himself to his defeat he still held his body tensed; he expected more blows to come. But when none came, he managed to peel apart his eyes and look up at his captors. 

One of them kicked him on the side of the face, then they backed off. So tortured by his other injuries he didn’t even feel the blow as right now, Leo was beaten. 

Leo knew he was beaten and defeated, but only because he was tired, starved, and dehydrated, and to add the multitude of injuries to his body. Blood loss was also a factor. 

The turtle heard the door close and lock behind him. He hoped it wasn’t more ninjas coming in right now. He was in no condition to take them on. But he saw that he was alone. 

He felt his side throbbing and stabbing, the exposed flesh struggling to interpret the signals now that they had been partially severed. He felt some liquid rushing down his belly; it felt hot and sticky. Leo looked down and saw the blood. He knew it was coming from his side, a wound like that would bleed for a long time and he risked bleeding to death. But he couldn’t move, even if had wanted to, his body was beyond movement. 

Exhaustion and pain finally made the injured turtle slip into unconsciousness.


	4. Chapter 4

When more ninjas came into the room, they saw that the turtle they were supposed to fight was laying on the floor not moving. Around the katana wielding turtle were blood stains, showing that Leo had continued to bleed even a little while they had been gone. They went over and made sure he wasn’t just playing possum and made sure he was still alive. 

The lead ninja prodded the prone turtle with his katana tip, noting that there wasn’t even a flicker behind the closed eyes. Looking over Leo’s body, there was a moment of panic in the ninja’s mind that perhaps the turtle had died as he couldn’t even see Leo’s plastron moving with breathing. Moving his foot back, he brought it forward in a kick into Leo’s thigh, earning a low groan of pain from the turtle but he remained unconscious though obviously still living. 

“He’s been kept awake for the last four days and our fighting him finally took a toll on him.” The one down by Leo’s body explained. “And to add no food or water and some blood loss.” 

“So what do we do with him now?” 

One of the ninjas called up the Shredder. “Master, what do we do with this turtle now? He’s unconscious.” 

“Treat the wounds, keep him alive because I look forward to seeing him play again later.” The Shredder said. 

The men did as they were told. Being a lot more gentle than any of them had ever thought they would be with a turtle, they picked up Leo’s unconscious form and carried him to a surgical room. 

The doctor assigned to care for Leonardo tutted and shook his head as he looked at the battered and broken form brought to him. Carefully, he cleaned up the cuts, assessing each of them as he went, noting that the stab wound on Leo’s side was beyond a doubt the most serious. He cleaned it gently, washing out the inside of the wound with a saline solution trying to assess how much damage had been done. 

Without the proper scans and x-rays, the doctor could not be sure how much damage had been done. However, based on his expertise of knife wounds, he reasoned that the blade had missed the major organs and the most damage had been to the muscles and from the blood loss. Taking out the dissolvable stitches, he set about closing the wound internally before setting about closing the layers of skin over it externally. 

The injury on Leo’s shoulder wasn’t too bad now as it was been cleaned up, but it would leave a scar. Leo’s broken arm was black and blue and purple from having been broken. The doctor didn’t know it was broken and again because he could not x-ray it he just assumed it was badly bruised. Hoping to help with the swelling and bruising, he applied a pressure bandage to it to give it a bit of support. 

Once the wounds were taken care of, the doctor bandaged over the stitches hoping to help protect them from infection. He kept the unconscious turtle under his supervision while he gave him an intravenous solution of fluids and salts to tide Leo over until he could consume liquids on his own. 

Releasing Leo from his care, the blue banded turtle was taken to another cell where he was left alone on the floor. This time, he was shackled to the floor by his ankles.   
………….. 

It took over a day for Leonardo to wake up. He had been so exhausted and his body and mind completely depleted of all reserves. 

He slowly came into awareness, his mind drifting in and out of consciousness for a long time before he became alert of his surroundings. Once he was more awake, he tried to get up, but the moment he tried to put weight on his left arm, a sharp torturous pain went through it and Leo was forced to lay down again, crying out in pain. The movement also sent stabbing pains up and down his side, the flesh of his side pulling at the stitches painfully.

Leo lay on the floor holding his arm to his chest. He was trying to remember what happened before now. His mind felt like he was battling against a thick fog, his brain seeming to thump in time with his heartbeat. Slowly, images began to appear and he put together the puzzle. 

The fights. The Foot. The injuries. 

Leo looked down at his injured side and found it covered by a bandage over it with some others wrapped around his middle to keep it in place. He tenderly felt against it, feeling the stitches underneath the white fabric. 

Looking at his broken arm, he saw the pressure bandage and wondered if it would do any good to his broken bones. He let out a silent sigh, grateful that he had received some kind of medical care while unconscious.

He hoped he wouldn’t be forced to fight again in this condition. But more than anything, he hoped his brothers were all ok. With him out of commissioner as it were, did that mean that Shredder was going to pay more attention to his siblings? 

With a low moan, he raised his good hand to his head and rubbed at his forehead. His head hurt from the blow it took the other day and the more he thought about it, his dehydration was probably adding to his headache. He so wanted to go home. 

When Leo did decide to try to move onto his good side, he found that he was bound at the ankles. With his broken arm, he was at least glad that it wasn’t bound like before he was taken. It seemed that they either no longer viewed him as a threat or they were showing him a modicum of compassion. He snorted at that thought. 

He managed to push himself into a sitting position while keeping the weight off his hurt arm. Don would have to reset it, possibly even break it again if they were captives long enough. And he knew that he wouldn’t be able to wield a sword in that arm until it healed. All he could do for now was be grateful for the pressure bandage and keep it elevated and supported as best he could. 

Leo took off his belt. Even though his arm was broken, he could still move his fingers, though it did send pains shooting up his arm. It was a hard pain to describe, a mixture including pins and needles which seemed to want to explode out the end of his fingertips. 

Leo retied the belt after he had it off. He slipped it on over his neck and then put his arm in it like a sling. It was the best he could do for now. Even that little aid though eased his suffering taking the pressure off his shoulder and allowing the muscles to relax. 

Once that was done, Leo began looking around the room. His eyes widened when he saw something that was sitting not too far away from him. 

It was a glass of water! 

At the thought of quenching his thirst, his dry mouth tried to water but his dehydration was so great that he couldn’t even gather up any saliva. Very slowly, Leo pulled himself as far as the shackles would allow to try to get the glass. Each movement pulled at his injuries and he heard himself whimper, but he was determined to get the fluid. 

He was just barely able to reach it with his good arm. When he had it, he went against all of his instincts to simply guzzle it down to first smelling it to make sure it was normal. It didn’t have any strange smell to it and holding it up to the light, he couldn’t see any discoloration. As much as he just wanted to chug it down, he forced himself to drink it slowly. 

Though the water was a bit warm, it felt like heaven in his mouth after having been deprived of water for a few days. And it was the first thing in his stomach in these last few days as well. 

After having drank some water and set some aside for later, his stomach grumbled and churned, allowing his hunger to kick back in. Another quick sweep of the room sadly informed Leo that there was no food in the room. He rubbed his belly to try to soothe it, not that it would though. As his hand ran over his plastron, he became aware of how tender his plastron felt. Wracking his brain, he tried to think of what had caused it, finally remembering the bruising that had been caused by the sledge hammer. 

His stomach grumbled loudly once more, causing Leo to bed forward as the griping pains twisted his gut. Leo hoped he would be fed soon. Hunger pains were something he had experienced before were a weakening pain he could do without. 

Not only that but he would need his strength to heal successfully and get back to his brothers. But, knowing the Foot, being fed would be hoping for too much. For now, he leaned back against the wall and could only try to relax while he could while thinking of his brothers. If they were harmed, the Foot would pay! 

As much as the pain was tormenting, coursing through his system with every beat of his heart, he would much rather have this happening to him and not his brothers. He hoped he was the most valued as an enemy to the Shredder so he wouldn’t hurt his brothers.


	5. Chapter 5

Because of his injuries, Leo was allowed a day of rest now that he was awake, then some ninjas came into the room to get him. 

With his arm in the makeshift sling, it was more difficult for Leo to get to his feet in a hurry. Even then, the ache and tightening of his strained muscles made his movements slower and highly painful. Overriding it all though was the sharp jolt of pain that went through his side, it made him pause mid-movement and take slow painful breaths, but Leo just tried to ignore it. 

“Get the shackles off. Time for another challenge, Freak.” 

Two ninjas came over first and held Leo’s arms although they could see his that his broken arm was not much use to him. The limb was swollen to over twice its size and instead of being green, was a mass of black and blue. Leo unintentionally winced when they held his broken arm, no longer able to keep his expression clear. 

With Leo restrained adequately, another ninja came over and undid the shackles on his ankles. He was dragged from the spot, his legs struggling to move and take steps. He moaned loudly in agony, all of his injuries fighting to see which could cause him the most pain. 

Leo was taken back to the fighting room and was silently grateful for the two ninjas holding him up as he doubted in his current state he could have made the journey independently. He knew he wasn’t in any shape to be fighting again, but he would do what he had to do to save his family. 

The ninjas thrust him into the empty room and Leo used the wall to support himself. He closed his eyes and tried to center himself so that he could function past the pain. This time, it was Hun who came in and he had a baseball bat with him. Leo’s eyes widened at the bat even though it was only made of wood, the blue banded ninja knew in Hun’s hands, even that bat could do serious damage to him. 

“Say your prayers, Freak!” Hun mocked him. “I have been looking forward to this for a long time. Ha! Ha!” 

The turtle knew he was going to have to stay away from the bat and Hun’s fists, but he would do what he could to fight the evil man before him. Leo didn’t say a word as the giant human charged him, ready to smash his head in with the bat. 

He was short on energy from no food, barely any water, and blood loss. His muscles and ligaments had seized up from the harsh treatment he had endured, he ached beyond belief and his head swam, making the room move from side to side. Despite all of that, Leo’s instincts for survival had him moving and dodging the man and trying to stay away from him.

It turned into a more of ‘chase the turtle around the dojo’ game. But Leo did manage to get in a few kicks here and there, the effort costing him greatly but worth it to weaken Hun even slightly. The torment in his arm and side had just kept him on the defensive to dodge and run a lot more. As long as he kept his arm tucked against his body he could cope just about. 

Eventually, it made Hun throw the bat down in frustration, having swung it so many times and missing the injured turtle. Without the bat to hinder him, he went after Leo bare handed. A small smile twitched Leo’s lips as he saw it happen, this was what he would prefer. He knew Hun was still dangerous without even a weapon on him, but now the odds were a little more favorable. 

With his heart hammering wildly and the adrenaline for survival coursing through his body, Leo launched himself at Hun. Not expecting the injured turtle to attack him, Hun was unprepared for the attack. 

Leo used it all to his advantage, using his good arm putting as much strength as possible into his punches. As soon as Hun’s arms went up to protect his face and chest, Leo brought his leg up and delivered a swift kick into the man’s gut. Hun doubled over in pain and Leo began to rain down blows with his good fist and his feet, forcing the giant to the floor with the unrelenting hits. He knew he needed to keep it up, but he simply couldn’t sustain the level of effort required. 

Despite getting Hun down onto the floor, the human was in much better condition than Leo was. He quickly regained his senses not long after Leo’s blows stopped, the turtle sat off to the side just trying to catch his breath. 

Leo was panting hard, each breath taking much more effort than normal. It was like his each little movement sent sharp shooting pains all across his body. He sat on his knees leaning forward slightly. He sensed the man sneaking up on him, but the adrenaline had left him and he couldn’t move fast enough this time. 

Hun hit Leo in the head and it sent him across the dojo. Leo hit the floor hard, the force of the blow making him roll over until he landed on his shell. Leo couldn’t move. His vision swam when he tried to open his eyes and get up, but couldn’t. The pain was indescribable; so overwhelming and consuming. 

Hun smiled to himself widely, glad that he had managed to get the turtle down and now was the best chance to strike. He went and picked up the baseball bat and walked back over to the injured turtle. 

Leo lay there panting, trying to regain his senses, but then, he sensed a shadow over him and he opened his eyes. He was greeted by the sight of Hun standing over him with the baseball bat weighted in his hands. Leo swallowed nervously, even that small action costing him energy. He didn’t have the energy or the capability to move right now. 

His head pounded like a steel band was having a party in his mind and vision was spinning, making everything around him blur and swim together in a nauseating mixture. There wasn’t an inch of his body that didn’t hurt. 

Hun hefted the bat above his head and aimed it at Leo’s head. Leo knew to expect the worst. He would get no sympathy from this man and a blow to the head with Hun’s strength behind it would most likely kill him. 

‘I love you guys!’ Leo screamed in his mind as the man brought the bat down. 

However, instead of landing on Leo’s head, the bat made contact with his stomach. Leo couldn’t help but cry out at the blow. He didn’t think it was possible for his body to comprehend more pain but somehow it did. The bat’s blow seemed to echo through his body, sending cascading waves of sharp, intense agony through every nerve. 

He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth tightly together, still determined not to cry out unless it was forced from him. His harsh breathing was the only sound in the room. Hun however was not done with his torture. He used the bat to move Leo’s swollen arm, the simple act of touching it breaking Leo’s resolve and drawing a pained cry. 

The injured turtle made to grab at his arm with his good one and draw it back to his body, but he couldn’t seem to move enough to do so. With Leo focused on his arm, Hun used the opportunity to bring the bat down onto Leo’s upper stomach. The bat landed squarely on Leo’s lower ribs and suddenly he couldn’t breathe. 

His mouth opened in a silent scream as the air was forced from his lungs by the hit, tears filling his eyes from the pain. The only movement he could make was his right hand going to clutch the new injury. 

His chest was on fire, his lungs burning from the pain of the forced exhalation. He managed to draw a shuddering breath, the simple movement aggravating his newly fractured ribs. 

Not one to give his enemy a chance to process, Hun fixated on a new area of Leo’s body. He saw the turtle’s good hand still resting on his plastron and a wicked smile crossed the human’s face. Hefting the bat over his head once more, he brought it down on Leo’s hand and battered plastron. 

The crunch of a bone in Leo’s hand breaking was dull but still audible. Much to Hun’s disappointment though this new wound did not draw a pained cry from Leonardo. The poor turtle simply lay there panting, scared, and in so much incredible pain that his body could not process the new injury. 

“Ha! Ha! I have wanted to do that for the longest time.” Hun exclaimed proudly.

Never one to give in and admit defeat, Leo mustered up the energy to peel his eyes open and face his enemy. His face settled in a seething fury as he saw the smiling human. 

“My… brothers… won’t let you… get away with… this!” The abused turtle managed to rasp out. 

With his ribs fractured, his plastron severely bruised and having had the wind knocked out of him, talking was not an easy task but Leo was still determined. 

“They’ll barely be able to recognize your mangled body by the time we get through with you!” Hun sneered. 

With one final snort of derision at Leo’s continued defiant look, Hun turned and left the room. Now alone, Leonardo could do nothing but lay there on the floor. Painstakingly slow, he managed to bring his now broken hand over his chest to his broken arm. 

There was already signs of bruising on the back of his hand and the limb was starting to swell up. He didn’t know how many bones had been broken, but he was struggling to move his fingers so that wasn’t a good sign. 

What really worried him though was his chest. Their plastrons offered them protection and he was sure that his ribs were only fractured, but they still made it incredibly hard to breathe. Every little movement of his diaphragm sent a new wave of pain through his chest and he couldn’t help but let out a whimpering sob. 

With so many devastating injuries and broken bones now, Leo was completely incapable of defending himself. He could barely move and even if he could, he would only have his legs and even they were failing to respond to his commands properly. He needed to be reunited with his brothers if he would ever stand a fighting chance again. 

Testing out how far he could push his body he tried to move, to simply roll onto his side. The distress it caused to his body was simply too much and he ended up back on his shell. Nausea welled in his stomach and even with his eyes closed, the room spun about him, threatening him with vomiting, only there was nothing in his stomach to be rejected.

He closed his eyes as he let out a pained whimper, hoping perhaps to find a few moments of relief in unconsciousness. Even if Shredder sent his men in to fight Leo now, the eldest turtle knew that he would be incapable of doing so. His mind and body gave in and he slipped into an unconscious state. 

Sometime later, the Foot ninja did return but with no intentions of fighting Leo. Instead they picked up his body between them, drawing unconscious cries from him and took him back to his cell. Despite being unable to move independently, they still shackled his ankles to the wall. 

Coming slowly to the surface, Leo attempted to take stock of his injuries. There was little he could do for them even if he could feel it. He was strangely numb, unable to feel most of his body, he wondered if his nervous system had become so overwhelmed it had simply shut down. 

Despite the numbness, Leo moved his left hand slowly to his side, feeling the bandage which covered his stab wound. He brought his hand back up and saw red marking his fingertips, the wound had obviously reopened. 

With all these injuries occurring in such a short time, Leo wondered if he was even going to survive. He hated the thought that he wasn’t going to be reunited with his brothers alive and what the Shredder would do with his body to torment them. Despite that knowledge, he wouldn’t change his decision to be taken first, he would gladly give his life to save theirs.   
…………… 

While Leo was out of the room, the bargain was holding steady enough. Don, Raph, and Mikey were still held prisoner in the cell. They had been separated from Leo now for over a week and they couldn’t help but silently fret over the fate of their leader and brother. 

They had all been given some food and water once a day after the first few days to get them hungry and thirsty enough to eat and drink. Donnie explained it was also a form of torture to weaken them and make their escape more unlikely. What went unspoken was the hope that Leo was being given food and water too to keep him alive. 

“I miss Leo.” Mikey said a lot, seeming to need to say his brother’s name as a form of comfort. 

“We all miss him Mikey, and we will get him back.” Don tried to calm and reassure his baby brother. 

“Leo’s always the hero. I’ll break their spines if they’ve harmed him!” Raph snarled, his anger acting as a fuel to keep him going. 

Mike and Don echoed Raph’s feelings but kept it hidden better. They would always ask questions of when Leo was going to be brought back to them when their daily food and water was brought in, but their questions always went unanswered.


	6. Chapter 6

It was really hard to find a comfortable position to try to sleep on this hard floor. And it was even harder when Leo could only sleep leaning against the wall. Leo rested both his injured limbs on his chest or belly while sitting leaning against the wall. 

His belly was badly bruised too from the bat and his ribs on the right side hurt as well. It really hurt to breathe. Leo really hoped he didn’t have any damaged internal organs. Every movement, every single inhale sent fresh torment through his abused system. He had taken many a beating before, but this was new territory and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could bear it. 

Tears welled in his eyes at that thought not only was he in a lot of pain, but not living through this and the thoughts of never seeing his family again were almost too much for his now fragile mind to process. It had been over a week since their capture and his separation from his brothers. Despite enjoying solitude, Leo was still very close to his brothers and needed their companionship. 

Leo jerked in fright as the door was suddenly unlocked, causing a moan of pain to escape his lips. He tiredly opened his eyes and watched as in walked just one Foot ninja. His eye ridges knitted together in confusion; he had been expecting many to come in and get him for his next set of challenges, but this time, this one had brought something in for him: food and water! 

Leo couldn’t believe his eyes. It was just some bread and water and yet his pupils dilated and his heart hammered a little faster at the thoughts of being able to eat and drink. It was left on a tray for him to get when he was ready. Leo looked up at the human. How was he supposed to eat and drink when he couldn’t use his arms properly anymore? But the ninja just left the room. 

Leo looked at the distance between himself and the tray. The ninja hadn’t come too close, obviously still weary of the injured turtle’s skills and Leo wasn’t sure if he could reach it. Despite his stomach craving the meager meal at that precise moment, he really didn’t feel like eating.

What he did want, what he desperately needed was the water. He knew that he needed to keep his strength up, which was something he didn’t have very much of right now and he reasoned maybe he would be more inclined to eat with some fluids inside of him.

He lay down on his right arm, making sure to keep the weight as much off his ribs as he could and painstakingly slowly pulled himself over to the tray. The effort was almost too much for him and he had to pause head down and gasping in agony as waves of nausea and dizziness washed over him. 

When his body seemed to have settled down, he used what strength was left in the muscles of his abdomen to somehow push himself into a sitting position and shakily picked the glass of water up with his left hand after he removed it from the sling. His grip was weak and he almost dropped the glass, but his fingers still seemed to worked on this hand. 

He was so thirsty and the water was definitely very fresh. It was very cold. It felt like he had been burnt which seemed to him to be a ridiculous notion. It felt like a hard punch in the guts after barely anything for so long. He sipped it gently over a period of a few minutes; not taking too much at one time for fear his body would reject it. 

Once he had drank approximately half of it he set it back down. Then he looked at the bread. He didn’t feel hungry, in fact his stomach felt already full with the pitiful amount of water he had drunk, but he couldn’t waste the chance. He didn’t know when he would get the chance to eat again and if he was to survive to see his brothers again then he needed to eat. 

Carefully, Leo picked up the bread and slowly began to eat it. He had smelled it and it smelled fine. The scent of it had been too much, his mouth watered even at the touch of the bread to his lips. He had to get some strength and energy back into his body. He hoped the others were being well taken care of.   
…………

Over the long week, at home, Master Splinter was extremely worried about his sons. He had called in April and Casey to help him look for them. They had found their shell cells in a warehouse in Midtown, but no other sign of them. They were gone and they didn’t know who took them. But Splinter had managed to smell out the perpetrators: the Foot! 

But trying to find the hideout was not going to be easy. Right now, the Foot clan was not at their regular headquarters. They had seemed to have disappeared from the city. But Casey said he would keep an eye out and report anything as soon as he knew anything. April would too. But Splinter was not going to just sit at home and wait. He would search as well. 

Leatherhead was alerted as well and he said he would be more than happy to lend a hand too. But for now, it was more beneficial that he just remain on standby in case they came home injured. Splinter was determined to find his sons again and he knew there was nothing more powerful to spur a man on then the need to protect his young. With a fierce determination, he set himself about the task.   
………….. 

The door to the cell where Don, Mike, and Raph were was opened up and the boys all looked up quickly a small hope bubbling inside of them that Leo would be with them again. It was a short lived hope and was vanquished when they once again, didn’t see him. 

Instead there were three ninjas before them. Despite the masks which hid their faces each of the brothers could feel them looking at them, scrutinizing them, almost like they were analyzing them. Raph stared back defiantly while Donny frowned at their behavior. Mikey shrank back a little from them, pressing himself against the wall. 

“Which one do we want this time?” One of the foot ninja asked the most forward in position. 

“Where’s our brother?” Raph demanded.

He was ignored and once again they shared the terrible thought that perhaps Leo was no longer alive. It was too much to think about and they each clung to the hope that Leo was too strong willed to succumb to death. 

“That one!” The most forward standing ninja instructed, pointing toward Don.

Don’s eyes widened as the ninja’s finger pointed at him. His mind had already gone through several possibilities of what the Shredder would do to them and none of them had a good outcome. He didn’t want to be experimented on and he didn’t want to be taken away from his brothers. They were a team and worked best together. His breathing sped up and his gaze flicked in a panicked fashion to Raph and Mikey. 

“Get him!” came the order. 

The effect on Donatello was instantaneous and he immediately began to struggle in the hopes of keeping the men off of him. He wasn’t the only one, both Raph and Mike fought against their chains trying to get to him. But the outcome was inevitable. The men grabbed Donny’s arms and the shackles were unlocked before Don was pulled to his feet. 

Don struggled with all his might, fear giving strength to his muscles, “Let go of me!” 

“Get him out of here,” the lead foot ninja barked. 

The trio struggled with Donatello, but even in his frightened state the olive green turtle was weaker than they were. He was forced protesting and panicking from the room. 

“NO! DONNY!” Raph cried out, straining at the chains that bound him. 

“DON!” Mikey cried out as well, fear lacing his tone as it did with Raphael’s. 

All this time it had been Don’s presence that had been keeping Raph and Mikey calm. With the door clashing shut behind the three ninja and Donatello, both brightly banded brothers could feel that calm slipping away. Now things were going to fall apart even more if Don came to harm.


	7. Chapter 7

Leo felt isolated in this room. Since he had started eating, his hunger had finally started to assert itself again. But it was even harder to block out the pain. 

All of a sudden, the door to his room was unlocked. Leo readied himself to be taken for more fighting, but instead, two ninjas came in with a struggling Donatello. 

“Don?” Leo perked up. 

“Leo!” Don said all too happily when he saw his brother. Then Don was thrust forward and he stumbled to the floor, grunting as he landed hard on all fours. Shackles were also put on his ankles, limiting his movements. 

The guard turned on his heel and left, slamming the door behind him. Leo heard the lock click into place and a mild sense of dread washed over him. 

Leo could barely move and he grunted in his attempt to move over to his brother. Seeing that his brother was injured, Don rushed to his side. 

With tears in their eyes, the brothers stayed locked in a warm embrace, drawing on each other for support. When they pulled apart again, Don asked, “What did they do to you, Leo?” 

Leo grunted in pain. “They’ve been fighting me. I’ve received all these injuries in the fighting challenges. My left arm, right hand, and some ribs on the right side are all broken. There is a cut in my left side. Some other cuts and bruises all over my body too.” He tried to explain his injuries. “Did they do anything to you? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. They just brought me in here from our original cell. Do you mind if I examine your injuries?” Don asked, looking Leo over.

“Please.” Leo said and with that, he let his brother start to examine his injuries. With a grunt, he lied back to make it a little easier for Don. 

Every time Don came upon a sore spot, Leo couldn’t help but wince at the pain. Don saw that Leo’s breathing was heavier and hoped he didn’t have a pierced lung from one of the broken ribs. 

“Your hand and arm are going to heal wrong if I don’t set them.” He saw how swollen and badly bruised both his hand and arm were. 

“Do what you have to do, Don.” 

Don couldn’t do much for the ribs, but he did try to reset them as best his could, getting big groans and flinches from Leo. Then he set about setting the bones in both his hand and arm. Leo tried so hard to hold in the cries of agony and it left him panting for breath by the time it was over. 

Leo’s limbs hurt from the setting, but at least they were in place again. Leo would still need time to recover before he could carry a weapon again with them. 

“Now I should take a look at your side.” Don said. 

After hearing Don say that, Leo sat up, as he knew his ribs were going to be sore, and he moved around to show his left side to his brother. The bandages that were holding the one over his flesh in place were removed and placed aside as the one over the wound was removed.

Leo groaned as the bandage pulled at his stitches. 

Don had to cover his nose in an attempt to keep himself from gagging at the smell. “Oh, Leo! This wound is infected!” 

Leo raised his left arm to look. “My wound was torn open a few times since getting it.” 

The wound had dried blood all around it. The stitching wasn’t even holding it closed anymore. Don knew that if he had the right tools with him, he would fix the wound. But, without the tools, he couldn’t do much for it. 

Don fixed up one of the side bandages up and placed it on Leo’s wound after he had Leo lean down on his right arm on his side. Then he took Leo’s belt off and applied that over the bandage. After that, he took the other two bandages and wrapped Leo’s arm and hand up. 

Don wished that there were more bandages so he could also wrap up Leo’s ribs. Then once he was done with all that, he asked, “Is there anything else that they did to you?” 

“No. Everything below my waist is fine, Don. Thanks.” 

“Good. Now we just need to get out of here.” 

“Yeah. But I’m in no shape to fight. Though, I can still use my legs if I have to.” 

“First we have to get out and get Raph and Mikey out of their cell.” Don said. 

“But it’s not going to be easy.” Leo said. 

“It’s never easy fighting the Foot and trying to escape. For now, just try to rest Leo.” Don said. “I’ll figure something out." 

Leo was more than happy to oblige, comforted by the fact that he had a brother there with him. He laid down on his shell and placed his head in Don’s lap. Don’s left hand intertwined with his and Leo drew on his strength. 

The lack of sleep and his injuries had Leo feeling exhausted. He smiled as he fell into a deep sleep for the first time in days. 

Don kept watch over his injured older brother. It was infuriating to see what the Foot had done to him. There was no way he was going to let those wounds and broken bones fester to infection or heal wrong. He had done all that he could for Leo, at the moment. He would get the injuries treated better once they got home. Nothing was going to stop him from finding a way to get them home. 

Concerned over the possibility that one of the broken ribs could have pierced Leo’s lung, Don kept a close eye on his breathing and prayed that there was no other internal injuries.   
…………..

The door unlocked, waking Donny. He hadn’t realized that he had fallen asleep. His head had been leaning against the wall. He must have been more tired than he thought. Looking down, he noticed that the sound had also awakened Leo. 

The two turtles couldn’t move. There were 5 ninjas standing before them. Don put his arms over Leo protectively. “You aren’t taking him again!” 

“Very brave words, Turtle, but you have served your purpose in here.” 

“Aw! Ain’t that cute?” One mocked. “He’s trying to protect his brother.” 

“I won’t let you hurt him again!” Don growled at them. 

“Separate them,” another ordered. 

Don clung to Leo more and Leo did the same, despite his broken hand and arm. It was so hard on Leo to even move in his current state. It hurt to breathe, sending pain shooting everywhere. He didn’t want Don to leave him. 

Two men came over and grabbed Leo and the other two came over and grabbed onto Don’s arms, forcing him to let go of Leo. 

Leo cried out when they forced him apart from his brother. He was in so much pain that his mind couldn’t form words, but he did painfully voice about his injuries when they were touched. 

“Let me go! I’m not leaving him!” Don tried to stay with Leo. He knew he needed to stay with him, fearing that if Leo was taken he would never see him again. 

Don struggled with all his might as they pulled him further out of the room. Leo had been placed back on the floor and he wished he could do something to help, but knew he couldn’t. 

“Don!” His voice was very weak when he tried to call out. 

Donatello barely heard Leo’s voice over the clamor. “Leo!” he called back, redoubling his efforts. 

The men had a good, tight grip on Don’s arms. They pulled him out of the cell, closing the door behind them. 

Tears welled in Leo’s eyes. He had thought that things were going to get better when the Foot had granted him a chance to see his brother and let him stay with him. Leo craved the company of his family, even Raph. He just hoped Donny wasn’t going to be taken somewhere and tortured because he had been trying to protect him. 

Leo wondered when this nightmare would be over.


	8. Chapter 8

The ninjas took Don to a different cell than the one he was in before. Once inside, he was shackled on one ankle and he knew he was going to be left in solitude, but that was the least of his worries. 

“Don’t you hurt my brother!” Don threatened. 

“Or what? Hope you enjoyed seeing him again, because he’s not long for this world.” 

“No!” Don cried out, hoping he wouldn’t be the last one to see Leo alive. 

He struggled to get free and get back to Leo. But before his fighting could get too far, the ninja punched him hard in the face. It knocked him to the floor on his shell. Don could only sadly look up at his captors. 

“The Master may have plans for the rest of you very soon. And particularly for you.” 

Don could only glare. He didn’t want to imagine what those plans could be, maybe the same that had happened to Leo? 

The ninjas left the smart turtle alone in his new cell. He had to think of something to get him and his brothers out of here.   
…………..

Leo was still lying on the floor, wondering what was going to happen to him next. He was exhausted from the emotional turmoil. 

When the door opened again, the injured turtle looked to his left and through the tears, he was able to make out the shape of his worst enemy. 

Leo suddenly perked up and tried desperately to push away from the Shredder. He could only get so far before the shackles pulled at his ankles. He was backed into the corner as far as he could go. 

“How the mighty have fallen, Leonardo.” Shredder’s voice was grating to Leo’s ears. 

“Don’t… hurt my… brothers…, Shredder. Do what… you like… with me, but… leave them… alone.” Leo’s voice was whispery due to his injured midsection. 

“I came in here because I wanted to see the state of your condition. There is still a great deal that I have planned for you. And there’s plenty that can be done on those wretched brothers of yours.” 

Those words filled Leo with pure hatred for the monster in front of him. He growled at the Foot leader, but the Shredder wasn’t the least bit intimidated. He walked up to scared turtle, who once again tried to get away from him. 

“Pathetic, Leonardo. You aren’t going to get away. And with those injuries, I could kill you in an instant.” 

Leo could only glare. “Then… why don’t… you?” 

“Because watching you suffer is just too much fun!” The Shredder laughed, then he kicked Leo in his left shin. 

Leo cried out. He didn’t need any more injuries so he pulled both legs up as close to his body as he could get them, trying to limit his exposure. 

Laughing, the Shredder finally turned and exited the room. 

Leonardo could finally breathe a sigh of relief, though he still felt a sense of dread. He really wanted to get out of there. Relaxing a little, he looked down and saw the beginnings of a bruise starting to form on his leg.

But after the Shredder had left, the biggest thing haunting him was what he had said about watching him suffer. Leo had heard that line one time too many. He felt like a magnet for enemies to get at the most, and why was that exactly? Probably just because he was the leader had mostly to do with it.   
………….

Later in the day, some more food was given to all four turtles. 

Leo and Don both were in the greatest emotional turmoil, after having been separated from each other and didn’t feel like eating. 

Raph was having a hard time keeping his temper in check and tried to keep Mikey calm. He didn’t know how to be the sentimental type all that much. Knowing that he needed to keep his strength up, he reluctantly ate his food. 

Mikey immediately dived right into his food, always the hungry boy that he was. He just didn’t want to take the food for granted if by any chance, the Foot might stop feeding them and they wouldn’t know when another meal chance awaited. 

Shortly after they finished eating, some more ninjas came in. “Which one this time?” 

“Where are Donny and Leo?” Raph demanded. 

“They are just fine, Red Turtle.” 

“That one.” Mikey was pointed at this time. 

Nerves overwhelmed Mikey and he tensed up, whimpering as he looked at Raph for help. 

The humans moved toward him. 

“Don’t you DARE touch him!” Raph snarled at them, spurred on by his little brother’s pleads. 

“What are you going to do about it, Freak?” 

“I’ll kill you if you hurt him!” Raph threatened. 

Mikey’s shackles were undone and his arms grabbed tightly. He was pulled to his feet and dragged from the room. 

“Raph!” Mikey called to his brother, his voice pleading. “Don’t let them take me!” 

“Mikey!” Raph tried to struggle to free himself and his brother, but the bonds on his hands held strong. They began tearing at his flesh again. 

Mikey was brought out of the room and the door was once again closed and locked. 

Raph kept on struggling, but the shackles weren’t budging. Within a short time, he had to settle down again. He knew that he wasn’t getting anywhere. He just wanted to get his family to safety. He deeply regretted fighting with Leo now. He hoped he was alright and not dead. 

And why did they have to take Don and Mikey away from him? They better not be harming them. 

When he was relaxed long enough, Raph felt the burning in his wrists. He looked down and saw the terrible wounds on his hands. The wounds smelled and they were incredibly infected. There was a lot of dried blood on his shackles. If they got out of this alive, Raph knew he was going to have Don treat his injuries.   
…………….

Mikey struggled every moment in the humans’ hands. “Where are you taking me?” He demanded. 

He hoped it wasn’t a dissection room.   
……………..

Don felt really helpless to help Leo. He couldn’t help the tears that fell because he feared the worst for his eldest brother. 

Then, his door opened and a struggling Michelangelo was brought in. 

“Mikey?” 

“Don?” Mike said and he was brought close to Don and forced to the floor where his ankles were then shackled. 

Once the ninjas left, Don and Mike had a teary reunion. 

“What did they do to you?” Mikey asked when they pulled apart. He noticed the bruise on Don’s face and gingerly ran his fingers across it.

“It’s just a bruise. It’s nothing. But they had taken me originally to see Leo.” Don explained. 

“How is he?” Mikey asked desperately. 

“He’s in real bad shape, Mikey. They even said to me that he’s not going to be long for this world. I really hope that’s not true.” Don said sadly. 

“We have to get out of here Don.” 

“I know. We can’t let them kill Leo. Or us.” 

Mike stayed close to Don while he was there in the room. They didn’t want to be far from one another, but it was the first time they were able to be close together again.


	9. Chapter 9

After the move from different cells for Don and Mike, things settled down for them and nothing happened. They were still fed and watered once a day, but even as they asked how their brothers were doing, no questions were answered. 

They were mainly just fed bread and water. Or fruits or vegetables for their food. 

“Man, what I wouldn’t give for a pizza right about now.” Mikey said, craving his favorite food that he hadn’t had since before their capture. 

“Yeah, pizza does sound good. But I’m just more worried about what’s happening to Leo and Raph.” Don said. 

Don might have been the smart turtle, but there was not much he could do right now, at least not without something to be able to pick locks with and everything on him and Mikey to allow him to pick a lock on a shackle or a door was gone.   
……………

It had been a few days since Leo’s last challenge and he was grateful for it. He knew he needed a lot of rest in his current condition. And there wasn’t much else to do in this plain, boring cell. He was sleeping a lot as he just wanted to get away from his pain. Each breath hurt his midsection because of the fractured ribs and bruised stomach. 

Every time a ninja came in, Leo feared another challenge was near, but for the moment, the only time they came in was to give him some food and water. Leo was always grateful for what little food and water they gave him. He needed to keep his strength up. And nothing was ever put on the food or in the water. He would check them every time.   
…………..

After several days of letting his favorite toy rest from his injuries, the Shredder felt he was ready for more challenges.   
…………..

Even though Raph was the most hot tempered of his brothers, deep down, he still loved them. Even Leo. And at this moment, Raph regretted everything he had been mad at Leo for. If it hadn’t been for his stubbornness, they wouldn’t be in this mess. 

He was also missing Don and Mikey too. And he was more mad than ever that they had separated them to do who knows what to them.   
…………..

In Leo’s room, he was trying to rest again when his door opened. 

Leo looked up and knew something was up when there was more than one ninja. He had his suspicions as to why they were here. 

“Get up, Freak!” 

Two men came over and grabbed Leo’s arms and pulled him to his feet. Leo couldn’t help but cry out from the pain in his arms as they still hurt. The shackles on his ankles were unlocked and Leo was dragged from his cell to who knows where.   
……………

Raphael was fuming about what he was going to do to the Foot when he got his hands on them when his door was opened up and just as he wanted to get up and attack, he froze when he saw who was in their grasp. 

Leo was thrown to the floor, landing on his injured arms. He couldn’t help at cry out on the landing. 

“Here’s a precious brother. Enjoy.” Then the two turtles were left alone. 

“Leo!” Raph cried out for his brother. He saw he was in bad shape. 

“Raph.” Leo said weakly. 

“Leo, I’m over to your left.” 

Leo pushed himself to his elbows and knees. He pulled himself over to Raph. The ninjas hadn’t even taken time to put bonds on Leo this time, knowing he was too hurt to fight right now. 

Raph’s voice had softened when he saw how hurt his brother was. “What did they do to you?” 

“Broken hand and arm. Broken ribs I’m sure. Stabbed and cut in my side. And many more things from being a punching bag.” Leo explained the best he could. “What about you?”

“Nothin’. Been separated from Mike and Don. I’ve been alone for some time now and it’s been more than boring.” Raph replied. 

“Don was in to see me and he set my bones back the best he could. Then he was taken out. Haven’t seen Mikey.” 

Leo noticed how bad Raph’s wrists looked from the shackles having never been taken off. “Your wrists need serious treatment too.” 

“I know, and they hurt at times. I’m sure they’re infected.” 

Raph let Leo lay his head on one of his legs. Raph then placed a hand on Leo’s chest. “Bro, I just wanted to tell ya, that I’m sorry for this whole mess.” 

“We’ll get out of here.” Leo said. It didn’t take him long to fall asleep again. Right now, every move was so much of a struggle for Leo to even move and he got exhausted easily. 

Raph kept a watch over him. Now he regretted fighting with his brother even more now that the consequences had turned into what they were. He didn’t want to lose his only older brother to these monsters.


	10. Chapter 10

Leo had been left in Raph’s room overnight and the next day the door was opened, waking up both turtles. 

Two ninjas had come in with platefuls of sandwiches and water for them. Both Leo and Raph breathed sighs of relief when they left and didn’t do anything else. 

As the two turtles got their food, Raph asked, “Have they been feedin’ ya?” 

“Once a day.” Leo replied. 

“Same here. Think they’re feedin’ Don and Mikey too?” 

“I’m sure they are. We would all be looking thinner than this if they weren’t feeding us.” 

Leo ate slower than Raph because of the problems with his arms, but he finished his food. He had been so distracted with talking and being back with his brother that he forgot to check the food and water for anything. 

A few hours later, Leo started to feel some discomfort in his stomach. He tried to ignore it, but the pain only began to get worse. He began to moan and he lied down. 

“Leo? Something wrong?” Raph asked. 

“I don’t know, Raph. I usually check the food they give me but I didn’t check it this time. I hope it isn’t what I think it is.” Leo said as he was holding his stomach. 

“I feel fine.” Raph said, patting his stomach. 

“I hope it’s nothing, but if the pain gets worse, I’ll know what they did to me.” Leo warned. He dreaded he had been poisoned and the Foot, perhaps, wanted to see him die in front of Raph, since they knew they’d been fighting from the moment they’d gotten here. 

As a few hours passed, Leo didn’t feel any better. The pain in his stomach had only seemed to intensify, and he feared he had been poisoned. 

Raph tried his best to soothe Leo, but there wasn’t much he could do other than just be beside him. Leo was just glad he had one of his brothers with him. 

“I hope this ends soon.” Leo whimpered. 

“Does it seem to be gettin' worse?” Raph asked. 

“It’s about the same, and it’s extremely uncomfortable.” 

Then, the door unlocked and opened. Both turtles glared up at their captors. There were three of them. 

“The time has come for another trip, Blue.” 

Leo moaned. He didn’t want to be moved. 

“You touch him and I’ll kill you!” Raph snarled at them. 

“How are you going to do that? You can’t even move from that spot.” The lead ninja mocked Raph. 

Raph growled at them and was prepared to fight for his brother’s safety, but he couldn’t move from his spot. 

The other two ninjas came forward and grabbed Leo’s arms and pulled him away from Raph. 

“Leo!” 

Leo couldn’t help but cry out in pain from the pulls on his sore arms and the pain in his stomach. 

Once he was away from Raph, the ninjas grabbed his upper arms in the non-sore spots and pulled him to his feet. Leo tried to go back to Raph, but he didn’t have a lot of strength to fight back. 

“Raph, I’ll be okay.” He managed to say before they pulled him out of the room. 

Raph was more than angered again. He wished the bonds on his wrists were removed so that he could move around the cell and pound any more ninjas that came in there. He was really worried for Leo in his condition. He said he’d be ok, but Raph seriously doubted it. 

He hoped that it wasn’t going to be the last time for him to see Leo alive.   
……………

Leo was nervous about where he was being taken. To see the Shredder so that he could be finished off? To see his other brothers? He hoped beyond hope that he was being taken to his other brothers. 

At least this time, Leo was glad not to have his injured spots pulled on, but it was also a nightmare to walk when his belly was hurting to high heaven. He tried to hold in the sounds of pain that he wanted to let out. It felt like something was attacking his internal organs. A constant, deep stabbing feeling.

When the doors were finally opened, it was revealed that he was being taken to a surgical room. Leo gulped silently. This was what he dreaded the most of any challenge at the moment. 

He was taken toward the table and he began to put up a struggle. That was when the sore spots on his arms were grabbed a hold of and that got Leo to cooperate a bit more. But as they were getting him closer to the table, the sharpest pain went through his stomach, causing him to cry out and he went down on one knee it was so bad. 

“Get up!” 

He was pulled to his feet again and finally gotten to the table, where with very little trouble, got him onto it and tied him down on his back. 

Leo looked nervously up at the humans that surrounded him. 

“He sure didn’t put up much of a fight.” 

“Good thing we softened him up before doing this, or else he would have put up more of a fight, like the red banded one wanted to.” 

“What do you want with me this time?” Leo demanded. They better have not touched his brother. 

The doctor came forward and he approached Leo’s left side. 

The turtle tried to do deep breathing in an attempt to stay calm and possibly help his stomach calm down too. 

When the doctor got to his side, he untied the belt holding a bandage over Leo’s side. Leo watched. Maybe they were just seeing to his side injury. 

Once the belt was off, the doctor saw the dried blood on the skin. The wound smelled by now. There had to be an infection underneath the skin. 

Leo saw the doctor pick up a scalpel and then his breathing picked up, causing his nausea to act up. 

The man cut away at the stitches. The wound was partially healed, but the doctor saw that there was an infection and he began to cut into the wound again. 

Leo closed his eyes tightly to hold in the screams. His stomach clenched at the pain. When it was done, he let out a big breath he had been holding. 

The doc proceeded to clean the wound out again and stitched it back up. Leo managed to handle it without crying out, though it had stung like shell. 

“Now what, Doctor?” One assistant asked. 

“I want to check those arms one at a time.” He said. 

From the side he was on, the doc had Leo’s left arm looked at first. As the man looked at the arm after the bandages were off, he saw that it was swollen and practically black. “This arm was broken. It’s amazing it doesn’t look worse.”

The doc put a splint on the arm and re-bandaged it. Then he took a look at the turtle’s right hand. 

As much as Leo would have preferred fighting to get away, he was willing to comply to let the doctor treat his injuries that needed treatment so badly. 

There wasn’t much he could do for the hand, but he did treat it the best he could and rewrapped it as well. 

Then another sharp pain went through Leo’s stomach, making him wince in pain. With his hand free at the moment, Leo put his hand on his belly. 

“Seems the turtle has a stomachache too.” 

The doc pulled Leo’s hand off and tied it down again. He then proceeded to try to press on Leo’s plastron, to see how much protection it really provided for the belly. 

Leo’s plastron was hard, but it did press down some. But it was so badly bruised and Leo could also feel the little bit of pressure going inward, making his nausea worse. He instantly grunted in pain. 

“What was the last thing he was given to eat?” The doc asked. 

“The last of the old beef. It was put on a sandwich.”

“That beef was not good anymore!”

“We know but we were ordered to give it to him anyway so we just made it up to look like it wasn’t bad.” 

Leo couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He had been fed bad food! No wonder he was having such bad indigestion. He hoped he wasn’t coming down with food poisoning. At that moment, he wanted to throw up, but his position made it hard to do. He tried to keep the bile down. 

“What about my brother? He was given the same stuff too.” Leo stated. 

“Oh no, Blue. He didn’t have the same kind of sandwich. We gave him chicken. It was fresh. You had the beef.” 

“So, are we done with him?” 

“For the time being.” The doc said. 

“But what’s wrong with me? You said the beef was bad.” Leo tried to get a confession from someone. 

“We’re glad you enjoyed it though!” A ninja mocked him. 

Leo didn’t find it funny at all. He could be dealing with food poisoning and they found it to be just one big joke! He wanted to know what he had. 

He was let up from the table and they took him back to his original cell and, this time, he was only shackled at one ankle. 

Leo lied down to try to ease the horrible discomfort in his abdomen. He couldn’t help but moan in pain. Despite being grateful for the treatment to his injuries, Leo still felt ill and warm. The more time that passed the more he worried that he was suffering from more than simple food poisoning.


	11. Chapter 11

Leo knew why the Foot would want to feed him bad food; as another way to torture him. At the moment, he was glad his brothers weren’t there to see him. 

He just didn’t feel good at all. He ended up throwing up a few times, he felt overly warm and Leo was sure that he had a fever, and without the water, he was getting dehydrated. He felt bloated and sore. He had a feeling he had been poisoned or he had food poisoning. He wasn’t sure which. 

He was resting as best as he could and that was all he could do to beat the illness. He was still only given water once a day, but it wasn’t enough. They did try feeding him as well, but he wouldn’t eat. 

He was starting to feel a little better after four more days of rest, but before he could fully recover, more ninjas came in and pulled him to his feet and dragged him from his cell. He was ready to see his brothers and hoped he would get to see them again, but that was probably hoping for a little too much. 

He was taken back to the surgical room and a sense of dread washed over him. He wondered what more they could do to him. 

Leo was tied down and could only wait to find out what they had planned. 

The doctor appeared and looked Leo over with uncaring eyes. 

“What is it this time?” Leo moaned.

“You have been seen having some serious digestive upset, not eating anything and only taking water. It’s time to get to the bottom of this problem.” The doctor said, pulling on a pair of gloves. “And I’ve been instructed to do it in the most intrusive way possible.”

Leo’s eyes widened, in fear at what the doctor was implying. A chill went through Leo’s stomach and he felt a preemptive pain in his side. He knew he wasn’t going to like this if it meant what he thought it was. 

The doctor prepared a needle and syringe with a liquid in it. 

Leo thought he was going to be, at least, sedated for whatever the doctor had planned. If he had to go to surgery, then he’d be more than happy for the sedation. At least he would get some rest. 

The needle was put into a vein on his right arm. Then the bandage on his side was untied in preparation for what was to come. 

Leo was soon feeling groggy, but he didn’t go completely to sleep. He could just vaguely hear the doctor say something. 

“The Master wants you to be partially awake through this.” But Leo could barely register it and his vision was blurry. It made him feel sick and dizzy, only aggravating his nausea more. He was mainly seeing shadows through his hooded eyes.

A loud noise, like a revving engine filled the room and Leo cringed. 

It took his mind a moment to realize that it was a saw and the sore turtle began to feel some more agonizing pain going on in his stomach. The doctor was cutting into him while he was awake! 

His body was numb enough that he couldn’t move but, even in his sedated state, Leo could feel enough of the probing and the pain was too much for him. He couldn’t help the scream that erupted from his throat. 

The doctor also had some assistants in the room too to help just in case they were needed. And as the saw went deeper into the plastron, of course there was a lot of blood flowing, and the assistants were required to keep the blood loss in control. 

Between the mix of the drugs and the pain, he didn’t even know that the Shredder was in the room with them. The Shredder was pleased to hear the turtle could still scream so well. It was like music to his ears. 

The doctor sawed into the left upper part of the plastron, just below the ribs, where the stomach was concealed underneath. The pain was too much for Leo and he slipped into unconsciousness. 

The man wanted to see if there was damage inflicted from the bad food, and why the turtle wasn’t getting much better. He had to be sure. He could have done the study microscopically, but the Shredder wouldn’t allow it. 

He probed into the stomach to see that the lining in the stomach was indeed inflamed. He also checked on some of the intestines, and they too were inflamed. Something in the food had to have been that bad to have caused this. There had to have been some bad bacteria in the food, or it wasn’t thoroughly prepared right for this to happen.

No wonder this turtle had been in such pain and wouldn’t eat, and why he had been so sick. 

Leo had an infection in his organs. From what the doctor could tell, it was obvious that this turtle had gastroenteritis. Only time would heal this infection. He would be in pain a little longer. 

The doctor sewed up the incisions and sewed up some tissues as much as he could while his assistants sucked up any excess blood. After sewing him up again, some glue was applied to the cut plastron and bandaged up again, set to heal. 

Then he put some substance into the stomach via a gastronastal tube, something that would be easy for his damaged stomach to digest. He was just giving the turtle a little boost in eating again. It had been a few days since his last meal. 

The doctor knew that the turtle was going to be in pain again when he woke up. That was the point, his master wanted to make him suffer some more. It left the doctor wondering how much more the terrapin would be able to withstand. 

He was taken back to the cell to wake up. This time, they didn’t even bother putting any shackles on him.   
……………

Leonardo woke up a little while later, and it took a little bit for his vision to focus, but when it did, he saw he was in the cell again. His head felt like it was spinning. It had to have been the drug. 

But the more he came to, the more it hit him. There was powerful pain going on in his stomach. His bandaged hands immediately clutched his middle, groaning in the process. The pain hadn’t been this bad before, but now, it was way worse than it had been before. It hurt to even breathe! 

The pain was so bad it forced Leo to roll into a ball. His hands clutched his stomach and he lied on his good side with his legs brought up. But the injured ribs made him go back to his back. 

Leo wanted his brothers to come rescue him and get him out of there so they could go home together. His mind screamed: “Master Splinter! Help me!”   
……………

Master Splinter, April, and Casey had been keeping an eye out for the Foot and the turtles, but there was no sign of them. 

Splinter was out with Casey when, all of a sudden, he got a headache and fell to his knees. “Master Splinter!” Casey was at his side in a second. “What’s wrong?” 

“I… I don’t know. I just felt like someone was trying to send me a message.” Splinter said, holding his head. 

“What sort of message?” 

“I don’t know. There is only one way to settle it. We should go back to the lair so I can meditate and try to find out the answer.” Splinter said. 

They went back to the lair so Splinter could meditate without having to worry about possible enemies attacking. 

Splinter got comfortable and began his breathing to settle and go to the astral plane. 

“Hello? Is anyone there?” He asked.   
………………..

Leo couldn’t move it hurt too much. He was just lying on the floor, trying to do some slow, deep breathing to soothe his stomach the best he could. But while he was just trying to relax, he felt something else on the back of his mind, like someone was calling to him. 

He hadn’t tried to meditate much since his capture, as the humans could come in anytime and do as they saw fit with him, but this pull was too strong. He had to try to answer it. 

Leo was still in too much pain to move at the moment, but with the right breathing, he centered himself and tried to take his mind off his pain and into the astral plane.

He heard a distinct voice in the distance from in the astral plane. He was on the ground, and he got up to go see who it was. 

“Hello?” He called out. 

“Leonardo?” Leo saw and heard his father. 

“Master Splinter? What are you doing here?” Leo asked, running up to embrace Splinter. 

“I heard you, my son. Do you know where you are?” His father asked. 

“I’m sorry, I don’t, Sensei. My brothers and I awoke in the terrible place the Foot are holding us. They won’t give any of us any information on where we are.” Leo explained. 

“How are you right now, Leonardo, and your brothers?”

“Scared mostly. The last I knew, all of my brothers are fine. I’m the one that’s in terrible shape. I’ve been doing this to keep them safe, and so far, it seems to be working.” 

“I’m proud of you, Leonardo. You are doing what any leader and loving big brother would do to keep his brothers safe. But hold on, my son, we will find you.”

“Please hurry, Sensei. I really don’t know how much longer I’m going to last. Oh! I’m in so much pain!” Leo had winced when he felt a strong jolt of pain. 

“We are trying to hurry Leonardo. Try to hold on a little longer.”

“I’m trying. Please hurry!” Leo begged. He couldn't concentrate on staying any longer because he was in so much pain.

Then the meditation was over. 

Leo was more than happy he had at last spoken to his father in so many days. But Splinter and their allies needed to hurry if they were going to save him and his brothers.


	12. Chapter 12

Splinter came out of his trance and told April and Casey that it was imperative that they hurry and find his sons. He was so worried for Leonardo after what he had told him of his condition. 

“We are trying to find them, Master Splinter, but the Foot were thorough in hiding any evidence of where they took the turtles.” April explained. “They destroyed their shell cells.” 

“And I’ve been looking up the Purple Dragons and none of them knows nothing.” Casey added. 

“We will not give up anytime soon.” Splinter said. “They must have some other place outside the city then.”

“I’ll get right on it.” April said and went to use the computer. 

Casey felt useless that he couldn’t find his friends faster. But he would more than make up for it for when they found them. He was going to break some heads for taking his friends.  
…………..

After finding out that Leonardo had food poisoning that infected in his internal organs, Shredder allowed himself a small victory drink while he watched Leonardo in the monitors. He liked seeing the turtle writhing in pain. It was weakening him more with each day. 

As he watched his wicked mind worked, he had another idea that would really hurt the turtle. To add to the fun, he would do this one in front of his brothers. He was going to break them all and sit back to watch them squirm.   
……………

The door to Don and Mike’s cell was unlocked and the two turtles looked up. They both held on tightly to one another. They hoped it was just another mealtime, or that Leo and Raph to be brought back with them, but this time, they were to be disappointed. 

Five ninjas stood before them. Two each went to separate the turtles, who clung to each other for dear life. Don wasn’t letting another brother be separated from him again and Mikey felt the same. 

Both Don and Mike were pulled to their feet, and then the shackles on both their ankles were unlocked.

“Leave my brother alone!” Don demanded. 

“Don’t worry this time, Purple. You’re going with him.”

“Yeah, we wouldn’t want you to get lonely.” 

Don could only glare at the mocking idiot ninja, but was glad to hear he was going with Mikey. 

They were taken from their cell and led through the building to a different room where, once again, they were put to a wall. Again, they were shackled but, instead of just their feet, their hands were shackled as well. 

When they were left alone, they both looked around the room. It looked mainly like any other room in this dreadful place, but Don noticed the front of the room had a different shape to it. A big, rectangular shape to it. 

“That was weird.” Mikey wondered “Are we going to watch a movie?” 

“We probably are, but chances are not one we are going to like.” Don replied. 

…………….

Raphael was terribly hungry. He had been taken off his food the day after his meal with Leo, though he was still given water. He was also very irritable, but when was he not? At least while he was in this place. 

He was trying to think more of his brothers than on his hunger. And to add to that the stinging pain in his wrists was worsening. They needed treatment real bad. 

Suddenly, his door was unlocked, and in walked three ninjas. 

Raph looked at them, wondering what they wanted. He knew he couldn’t attack them, at least not with these shackles on. And this time, there were no other brothers in here to take, so they obviously wanted something to do with him. 

Two of them came forward towards him, wary of what he might do. 

Raph felt that his energy was a little spent, especially without food. But he would still have enough energy to fight these three if they turned him loose. 

He glared up at them. “What do you want?” 

“This!” A syringe was jammed into Raph’s upper left arm. 

“Agh!” Raph cried out. 

The needle was pulled out and a little bleeding spot was left. 

It didn’t take long to take effect, and Raph’s vision got blurry. His arms were grabbed and his shackles finally unlocked. He was pulled to his feet and dragged from his room.  
…………..

The men were on their way to take Raph to the room Don and Mikey were in, but the smell of the infected wrists was too much. They changed their course and took him to the doctor. 

The doctor was shocked to see the red masked turtle being brought into his lab. “What is this? You have your orders on how to deal with him.” 

“Yes Sir, but this turtle has some bad smelling wounds on his wrists.” 

The doctor came over to investigate. He saw that the turtle wasn’t in any shape to fight being drugged. 

He saw how bad the wounds were and he told the men to bring him to the table and tie him down, but on his upper arms and legs. 

The doctor got his saline solution and water and began cleaning the wounds. 

Even in his sedated state, Raph felt the pain and couldn’t help but cry out at the big stinging sensation. 

Once the wounds were cleaned, the doctor applied some bandages to the hurt wrists. “He’s all yours now.” He said, and the ninjas undid Raph’s bonds and continued on with their orders.   
……………..

The door to where Don and Mike were was opened up again and this time, they saw a drugged Raphael being dragged in to see them. His feet were being dragged behind him. 

The two of them said nothing as they just watched what was going to happen. They both also noticed some white bandages on Raph’s wrists from where the shackles had once been. 

Don wondered how his brother’s wrists were going to be if they didn’t get proper treatment. 

Raph was dragged over by Mikey, and then sat down and his ankles tied down on the floor and his hands once again shackled up too. 

“Have fun now boys. There will be a great program on for you very soon.” 

The ninjas left laughing, as they knew what the program was going to be. 

When they were gone, Don and Mike began trying to get Raph’s attention. 

“Raph. Raph. Can you hear me?” Don asked. 

Don could see his hothead brother was clearly drugged. He was barely awake, but he tried to move his head toward the sound of Don’s voice. 

“Donny?” 

“You ok, Raph?” Mikey asked. 

“Peachy.” He managed to say. The drug was clearly beginning to wear off. It had only been a mild sedative. 

“Now that we are together again, we need to start coming up with a way to save Leo and get out of here.” Mikey said. 

“The next time they come in to release us, give it all you have to get away.” Don said. “I’m tired of waiting. And Leo’s in real bad shape.” 

“I know. I saw him too. And I think they made him sick. He was having stomach pains when he was taken from me.” Raph said. 

They all agreed. It was time. Drugged or not, Raph knew he could still fight, as long as he had enough adrenaline to do it. He was a little weaker without the food for so many days. And as the drug subsided a lot more, Raph also noticed the bandages on his wrists. But he still had shackles on. 

He was glad to be with the Don and Mikey again, but just like them, he was ever so worried for Leo a lot more.


	13. Chapter 13

Leo was relieved that he wasn’t tied up in shackles and that he was free to move about the room, but the thing was he was hurting so much that he didn’t feel like moving much. His stomach still ached, fighting off whatever infection was in his gut and from the surgery. 

He had managed to push himself up against the wall. He rested his injured hands on his belly. He hoped he could hold on long enough for his father, friends, and his brothers to rescue him. This pain felt like it was going to be the end of him, a constant, deep stabbing feeling. 

But it wasn’t long before the door opened up again and all Leo could do was stare up at the ninjas in front him. 

“Get up!” 

Leo was in so pain that he couldn’t. He just sat there. 

Two of them came forward and grabbed his arms, instantly getting a reaction from him. He cried out as he was forcefully pulled to his feet. 

“Come on, you lame freak!” 

“Please guys. Get me out of here.” He said to himself. 

“Time for more fun, Turtle. But first, time to move you to another room.” 

“I… can’t-” Leo moaned. 

“That suits us just fine.” 

Four men came around him and Leo watched as each one of them got a hold of one of his limbs and began to pick him up. He cried out when his arms were touched, but they ignored his pained cries. 

Leo was then placed on a gurney that had been wheeled into the cell. He didn’t have much fight left in him. His hands went back to his stomach. He was amazed and grateful that they didn’t tie him down. 

They began to wheel him out of the room. He looked up at the ceiling as he was wheeled to wherever. He just hoped it was finally back to his brothers.   
……………

In the other room, Don, Raph, and Mikey were awaiting anything to happen. Suddenly, the rectangle shaped window’s cover began to go down. Then an announcement came on. 

“Here is our program for you three turtles. Enjoy!” 

“By the way it’s lit,” Don informed them. “It looks to be a one way mirror.”

Through the window was a surgical table. Nothing was on it yet. They feared something bad was about to happen. Then, in wheeled some ninjas with a gurney, and on it, was a very injured Leonardo! 

Don, Mike, and Raph’s eyes widened. “LEO!” They all cried out in unison. 

From his prone position in front of his brothers, he looked like he was nearly dead. The Foot would pay for this! 

Leo was still in extreme pain. If he wasn’t in this condition, they would have had to tie him down for sure. And being loose, he wanted so much just to get up and fight them, but his energy was gone. 

The same men came over to him again now that they were in the designated room. They lifted him up once more and put him on the table that was in the room. Leo hadn’t even paid attention until he was on the table, wincing in pain. 

The ninjas took hold of his arms and tied them down. He watched what they were doing. 

The trio saw what they were doing to their brother and saw that he was conscious. Mikey was finally able to see what Don and Raph meant when they said that Leo was in bad shape. 

After his arms were tied down, a strap was brought over his chest. His legs were left loose, and the men stayed away from his legs for the moment. 

“What are you going to do?” Leo asked, his nerves spilling into his words. 

“This is going to be so fun, Turtle.” 

These humans always had a warped definition of fun. 

Leo brought his legs up close to his body, trying to shield it. And then, another strap was brought over his injured belly. 

Since they were tying his midsection down as well, Leo knew that he wasn’t going to get treatment for his injuries. They were going to be doing something else, and Leo had a feeling he wasn’t going to like it. 

Then some other human wheeled in a cart with some stuff on it. 

Leo’s breathing began to pick up, causing his nausea to get worse too. He struggled in the straps, trying to see what was in the cart. 

“Now it’s time to get ready for the fun.” 

Leo and his brothers watched them as some of them approached Leo’s legs. 

Leo kept his legs close to his body and underneath that, kept his tail tucked tight to his body as well. 

Don, Raph, and Mike didn’t like what they were seeing so far. They watched in fear for their brother as the humans began to deal with Leo’s legs. 

The ninjas were trying to pry Leo’s legs apart, and this was all he had left of his dignity. Despite his pain, Leo was fighting them. He put all the strength that he could into his legs to keep them there. 

But out of nowhere, a knife was pulled and Leo’s left thigh was cut. 

Leo cried out and it finally gave the ninjas the upper hand. They pulled the pained turtle’s legs apart, then kept them bent at the knees as they tied them down. 

Blood streamed from the wound on his thigh, but that was the least of his worries. Leo had never felt so exposed in his life. He still kept his tail tucked to keep whatever dignity he had left. What were these maniacs planning on doing to him? 

A cloth was applied over the wound, but nothing else done with it at the moment. Blood began to soak it instantly. 

When some shifting about was heard, Leo raised his head to see what they were going to do next. He tried to see what was on the tray. Were they going to dissect him some more?

One man put some gloves on his hands and Leo’s eyes went wide. He clenched his tail even more when he saw the human putting some gel on his gloved fingers. It also made him clench his stomach as well. 

Leo’s brothers already foresaw what was about to happen and they could only pray this would be fast for both their brother and for themselves.


	14. Chapter 14

“Pull his tail down,” the gloved man said to another. 

A small whimper sounded deep from within Leo’s throat as he felt cold fingers grab his tail. With a pinch and a twist, the man pulled Leo’s tail down, then secured it by tying a thin rope to the tip. 

Raph watched, shaking his head in disbelief. He and his brothers were dumbfounded with shock at what was happening. 

The gloved man loomed over Leo, a wicked smile on his face as the latter struggled against his restraints. However, they held tight and the one over his stomach bit into the wound. “Please, don’t.” Leo begged, making the smile on the gloved man’s face widen and Raph’s heart ache. 

A cold, wet finger slid across Leo’s cloaca, causing him to tense. Shaking his head, Leo whimpered as he felt himself breached. It felt strange to have something inside his tail and his body naturally pushed against it, but that wasn’t enough to expel the finger. 

If they were trying to torture him, why were they using lube? “We want you to enjoy this,” the man said as if he could read Leo’s mind. “At least for now.”

“I don’t want this,” Leo grunted. “Has Shredder lost all of his honor that he would stoop so low?”

In response, the man pushed his finger in deeper and Leo couldn’t help but let out a choked cry, still not believing this was happening to him. 

The man added more lube then a second finger, stretching the cloaca and the muscles within. Even with the lube, an annoying burning sensation could be felt down there mostly because of the roughness applied in his preparation. 

Leo just wanted it to end, but he knew that there was more that he would have to endure. His eyes were closed, but he sensed some movement so against his better judgment, he opened them to see what was happening. 

Another man stood ready holding a long, stiff dildo and was rubbing it with lube. 

“Why are you doing this?” Leo demanded, renewing his useless struggles against his restraints. 

They didn’t answer him. The gloved man removed his fingers and they were immediately replaced with the dildo. 

The hard plastic was long enough that it penetrated deeper than the fingers could. Leo pushed against it, trying to slow its progress, but it was pointless. It was pushed deeper inside. Just when Leo thought that it couldn’t get any worse, the dildo hit his prostate, causing him to gasp. 

“There it is,” the man controlling the dildo smiled. “The sweet spot.”

Leo closed his eyes and tried to focus his mind, but the constant striking of his prostate was hard to ignore. He was too weak to fight it and despite his best efforts, his body responded to the stimulus. 

Leo churred, eliciting a round of chuckles from the surrounding men. In time, his penis started to emerge and the man with the dildo removed it long enough for the gloved man to pump Leo to a full erection. 

A small vibrator was strapped to his shaft as the dildo was reinserted. Leo’s penis flared and the men laughed at how it looked. 

“Turtles have the ugliest cocks,” one of them remarked, while another one flicked it and another took a picture. 

The sounds of Leo’s gasps and churrs filled the room and echoed up into the small observation booth the others were in. Mikey was crying uncontrollably. His eyes were closed tight and he struggled to bring his hands up to cover his ears, but the chains were too short. 

At times, Raph would have his eyes closed or would simply turn his head away. But he would also turn to watch, wanting to know what they were doing to his brother and who was doing it so that he could pay them back later. 

Don watched the whole thing because he knew Leo would not want to talk about it. He needed to know what they were doing so that when they did get out of there he would be able to help Leo. He knew that he would never be able to get the images out of his mind. 

It was too much for Leo to handle; the stimulation coupled with his exhaustion had him quickly reaching his climax to an on-slot of jeers and mocking cheers. His muscles tensing throughout his orgasm caused him a great deal of pain and made his stomach churn. 

One of the men managed to collect his sperm. “Look how much there is. He must have really enjoyed himself.”

“I don’t need that much,” the doctor said, walking up to take a small syringe full. 

“What am I gonna do with the rest of it?” The man asked. 

“Whatever you want,” came the reply. “I got what I need. You can do whatever you want with him.”

A devious smile spread on the man’s face and Leo’s heart sank. The man grabbed Leo’s face and squeezed, forcing Leo’s lips to part. He then dumped the container of semen into Leo’s mouth. 

Leo managed to spit the majority back out, spraying it everywhere. The man jumped back, “He got some on me!” The others started to laugh but the man was so infuriated that he stuck his thumb into the gaping wound on Leo’s leg. “You should’ve just drank it, Freak.” 

Leo wanted to die in that moment. Out of everything that had happened to him up to that point, nothing was as bad as what he had just experienced. He cried out in pain as the man’s thumb sent stabbing sensations through his leg. 

He thought that after they got what they wanted they would stop, but they didn’t. They stimulated him long enough to work him back up to a full erection then placed a cock ring at the base so that the erection would be maintained. 

As the dildo was removed, another, larger one was jammed inside with less care, drawing a scream from the violated turtle. This new dildo stretched Leo further, went deeper and he could swear he felt something tearing inside. 

To add insult to injury, the gloved man inserted a thin metal rod down into the tip of Leo’s penis. He wasn’t gentle with the insertion and it felt like it was scraping along the inside. Once the man was satisfied with how far the rod was in, he attached something to the end and pressed a button. 

A mild shock ran through the metal rod, causing every muscle in Leo’s body to tense. His wounds started to burn and he cried out louder than before. 

“Stop it! Please, stop it!” Donny cried out, pulling against his restraints. There was no reaction from any of the men or Leo, making it apparent that they could not be heard. 

They spent hours violating Leo, taking sick pleasure in every second of it. When they were finally done, the man with the dildo leaned down, “Did you enjoy it?”

Leo kept his eyes closed and turned his head away, not wanting to give that sick human the pleasure of seeing him breaking under the rough treatment. 

“How about you,” the man said, speaking louder. “Did you enjoy the show?”

Curiosity got the better of him and Leo opened his eyes to see who the man was talking to. He expected to see Shredder, but instead, Leo saw that his brothers had watched the whole thing. 

Mikey was in tears, Raph looked on the brink of rage and Donny looked like he was going to be sick. Leo looked away, feeling ashamed; a stray tear rolled down his cheek and he prayed no one had noticed. Part of him hoped that he would never see them again, that the Foot would finally end his life. All that he had endured was to protect them and he had failed. He prayed that one day that they would be able to forgive him, but he no longer had the strength to go on, even if it meant that one of them would have to start suffering. 

Closing his eyes, he slipped into a state of apathy. He just didn’t care anymore. 

The sex toys and other things were taken away a few seconds later. Leo’s straps were undone and he didn’t even try to fight. He was lifted off the table back onto the gurney and after his thigh was wrapped up, they wheeled him out of the room. 

“Where are you taking him?!” Raph yelled out, but they couldn’t hear him. “I’m gonna KILL those Foot bastards for what they did to him! YOU HEAR ME?! YOU’RE ALL DEAD!”

“The feeling’s mutual, Raph.” Don added as he blinked away his tears. “He didn’t deserve that humiliation. Did you see the look in his eyes? They’ve broken him.” 

Mikey let his tears flow freely, not caring who saw him. He stared at the table where Leo had been abused in solemn silence. He shook his head and mumbled something about this being just a bad dream and that he would wake up soon. 

Raph and Don looked at each other then back at their baby brother. It would appear that Shredder had managed to ruin more than one life today. 

……………

Leo was taken back to his cell and thrown, unceremoniously on the floor. After the ninjas left him alone, Leo was able to pull his trembling body over to the wall in the corner. He managed to sit up and just huddled there. His backside hurt, his insides burned, he saw blood on his tail and- was that cum splattered on his plastron? 

Sadly, it was. He could even taste it in his mouth. Part of his penis was still out and it hurt too much anytime he tried to pull it back in so he gave up and just left it out. It didn’t matter anymore. 

He couldn’t believe he had surrendered to forced pleasure. All those years training his body and mind to endure pain and block carnal desires were in vain for he had given in and allowed those men to mock him, making them think he had genuinely enjoyed that session. He buried his face in his arms; one tear followed the other and soon he was crying like he’d never cried in his whole life. 

His shoulders hitched with his heartbreaking sobs. Shredder… those men… they had won, they had managed to break him. 

Whatever was in store for him, he didn’t care anymore. He had lost his honor and with that, he’d brought shame to his clan. 

Leonardo wasn’t worthy of bearing the last name Hamato, he didn’t deserve to be leader, brother, and friend… he was better off dead now.


	15. Chapter 15

April had searched the internet and located a few places outside the city that looked like possible places to investigate. She, Casey, and Splinter would check them all out to see if the Foot were holding the turtles in any of those places. They were sure that after Master Splinter’s meditation talk with Leo that he didn’t have much time and they needed to hurry to get him and his brothers out.   
…………..

After the rape that had taken place in the next room, the chains holding the brothers down had loosened from the walls a bit more, allowing them more access to one another. Raph, Don and Mikey were able to touch each other and try to give each other comfort. Don held Mikey in his arms as Mikey sobbed for Leo. 

Though he could touch them, Raph kept his distance. He didn’t want to hurt the others. He had fought and tugged on his shackles while he was forced to watch Leo being tortured and he had, once again, opened up the wounds on his wrists, blood showing through the bandages. But he didn’t care for his own pain at the moment; he just wanted to make the Foot pay for what they did to his oldest brother. 

After seeing what had been done to Leo, Mikey wasn’t sure he could take much more of their current situation either. He didn’t want to become their next test subject and the horror he had seen Leo go through haunted him terribly. He chided himself for such selfish thoughts. He shouldn’t be thinking about himself when Leo was suffering so much. 

After seeing the shape that Leo was in, Mikey was almost sure that the Foot would be finishing him off soon. They had to get out of there.   
……………

April, Casey, and Splinter had searched five different places and had come up empty. Splinter could tell if the places were in use, and he could sense if his sons were around. But none of the places had them. There was one more place located just outside the city that they needed to try. 

Leatherhead had stayed behind to continue April’s research and was ready to come to their aid at a moment’s notice. 

Casey carried the guys' spare weapons with him just in case they did find them. 

They knew that their time was running out and they were all more than anxious to rescue their turtle friends.   
……………

A little out in the woods, but not too far from the city, they arrived at the place. It was a big manor looking building. Sort of like a castle. 

“What do you make of it, Master Splinter?” April asked. 

Splinter closed his eyes for a moment. “Yes. This is where my sons are. I can sense them inside.” 

“Those Foot goons will pay for what they’ve done to our friends.” Casey growled, slamming his fist into the palm of his other hand. 

The mutant rat and two humans tried to find a way in without getting discovered. They hoped that they would be able to do it without raising an alarm but whatever happened, they were going to get the turtles out of there tonight. 

They found a way in by the drainage pipes on the west side of the building where the Foot threw the garbage out. Splinter led the way up into the vents. 

Splinter was able to smell out his sons. But he could smell something else too; blood. They were getting close. 

Soon, they came to the vent where the smell was coming from. In the cell they looked down through the grate and saw a lone Leonardo, huddled against the wall. He was covered in bandages and there was some blood lingering near him. He had the most miserable look on his face and it broke Splinter’s heart to see it. 

What had they done to him? 

Splinter couldn’t take it. He kicked the vent opening down. 

Leo was taken completely by surprise as he heard the crash as the vent in his ceiling was kicked down onto the floor, and out jumped his father! 

He gasped, “Father?” He wasn’t sure if he was real at first.

“I am here, my son.” Splinter said as he rushed over and embraced his son. 

Smelling his father’s scent and feeling his warmth, Leo knew he wasn’t dreaming. He embraced his father so hard he didn’t want to let go. He instantly couldn’t help but cry. He was happy that they had come to rescue him but, at the same time, resentful that they hadn’t come sooner. 

When Casey and April hopped down and joined them in Leo’s cell, Leo felt a wave of relief that he was finally able to pull his penis back into his tail. 

“I’m here, Leonardo.” Splinter said as he hugged his son. He could sense his distress and the smells that covered his son were worrisome. 

“Leo, do you know where the others are?” April asked. 

It was hard for Leo to contain his sobbing, but he looked over at her. He winced as his stomach and lower body hurt. 

“I… saw them… not too… long ago… in a room.” He sobbed. 

“Can you walk, my son?” Splinter asked. 

“I don’t know. I hurt… everywhere, Sensei.” 

“We have to get you and your brothers out of here. Let’s get going.” 

“The door’s… locked.” Leo said. “And I can’t use my hands.” Leo also saw that Casey had some katanas on him and he felt miserable that he couldn't use them. 

“I will open the door.” Splinter said. He passed Leo over to Casey and then jumped back up into the vent to find a way out. He crawled through the vent to the other side of the wall and then got out and went to the door, unlocking it with a shuriken. 

“Come on, Leo. We have to get you up.” April said and she and Casey gently and carefully helped pull Leo to his feet. 

He couldn’t help but cry out. After he was up, his right arm remained around Casey’s shoulders, as his upper arm was fine. They tried to help him to move. 

Leo could still walk, but rather awkwardly after his incident from earlier. Sadly, he didn’t remember the way to the room where his brothers were locked inside. His lower region burned and throbbed with every step, stealing every thought from his head and he hoped it wasn’t too damaged. 

His other injuries were also bothering him to no end, especially his stomach. 

Splinter led the way, and on the way to finding the others, they ran into many Foot soldiers. April and Splinter fought them off. Casey was to keep Leonardo walking. Leo wished so much to pay them back for what they had done to him. 

An alarm was eventually sounded by some Foot goon, and lights and sirens were blaring everywhere. 

Don, Raph, and Mikey all perked up at the thought of intruders and hoped more than anything it was their father and allies. They began calling out in hopes that they could be heard. 

Splinter could smell them and he perked up when he heard some calls for help. “I hear and smell them up ahead.” Splinter said, rushing off in their direction. 

April managed to nab a set of keys from one of the Foot soldiers as they fought. When they were in front of the door, it took her a few moments with trying to find the right one, but she did eventually get it open. 

“April! Casey! Master Splinter! Leo!” They all were greeted by the three happy turtles.

April ran in and unlocked their shackles then they all ran over to see how Leo was doing. 

Leo looked away; he was more than embarrassed that they had to witness his pain and humiliation earlier. 

“How are you doing right now, Leo?” Don asked, placing his hand on Leo’s shoulder. 

Leo struggled to keep from breaking down as he answered. “Sore. Tired. Humiliated.” 

“I’ll get you treated as soon as we get out of here. Do you have a problem walking?” Don asked. 

“A bit.” Leo admitted with a slight nod. He couldn’t look up to meet his brother’s eyes. He didn’t want to see the look of pity that he knew would be there. How could they hold any respect for him after what they had seen?

Don looked around. “We need a gurney to get him out of here faster.” 

“For now, just try to help him walk out of here.” Splinter ordered, not wanting to be delayed any longer. 

Casey handed Leo over to Don and Mikey so he could join in the fighting along with Raph. Casey gladly let the trio get their weapons out. Splinter and April took the lead while Raph and Casey took the rear, making sure that Leo was protected from all sides as they tried to find their way out.   
……………

The Shredder was infuriated when he found out the Turtles were escaping with their allies. He wasn’t going to allow that to happen. He joined his men in the attack. He wasn’t finished with them yet. He wanted to see Leonardo suffer some more.   
…………….

They were met with a barrage of Foot ninja to the point that even Don and Mikey were fighting from time to time, but they weren’t giving up on getting out of there. Don was so worried for Leo’s safety, as were they all. They knew that if they failed it would mean that Leo’s life was forfeit.

Leo hated feeling helpless as he burdened his brothers’ ability to fight. But with all his injuries, he couldn’t fight in his condition. The exertion with every move was proving to be hard for him to breathe due to the injured ribs. 

They encountered the Shredder on their way out and Splinter jumped forward to engage him while the others continued to fight the Foot. Fury filled Splinter. The knowledge that Shredder had caused so much pain to his children fueled him. The pain in Leonardo’s eyes alone was enough to ignite Splinter’s rage. 

He didn’t let up. In that moment Splinter didn’t care about honor, he just wanted to get his sons free so that they could start to heal. Blow after blow was landed in his fury of punches and kicks, giving Shredder little to no time to recover. 

He had no choice but to retreat. 

Soon they were able to make their way out the front doors and the turtles were led to the Battle Shell, where they all climbed inside and Leo was laid down gently on the bed table back in the back. Casey jumped in the driver’s seat, fired up the truck and hauled them all out of the evil location. 

Leo couldn’t help but wince in pain while lying there. He couldn’t believe that he was actually free and expected to wake up from a fever dream at any moment. 

“You’re going to be okay, Leo. We’re out of there now.” Don said, trying to soothe his injured brother. 

“We’re going to get through this. We ain’t goin’ to let them hurt ya again.” Raph said. 

Leo was glad they had gotten out, but there was so much more that had damaged him more than they could know. He didn’t want them to feel the need to protect him. He was supposed to be their leader, their protector, but he had failed. How was he ever going be able to face them again as their leader?


	16. Chapter 16

Casey was careful in how he drove the truck home. He didn’t want to jostle the turtles too much. But he also knew time was of the essence. 

April called Leatherhead, informing him that they were successful in rescuing Leo and that his assistance would be needed in his care. He told her that he would meet them at the lair and have the exam room ready. 

Leo tried to concentrate on his breathing on the ride home, avoiding everyone’s gazes at him. He didn’t want to think about the pain he was in or the shame that he felt. 

Don sat closest to him, keeping an eye on him with a comforting hand on his shoulder. 

Everyone else was quiet on the way home, even Mikey, the gravity of the situation catching up to him and sending him into a mild state of shock. 

Once they pulled into the garage, they helped Leo up and out of the truck. Every part of his body felt like it was on fire and he winced at any movement. He was taken immediately to the infirmary, where Leatherhead was waiting with his medical equipment. 

The big croc gasped as Leo was brought into view. Nothing could have prepared him for it. He could see that beyond the physical injuries that Leo’s spirit was also broken. Out of everything, the spirit was the hardest to heal. They would do what they could for his body, and from his scent, Leatherhead could tell that the injuries were infected, but nothing was guaranteed. 

Leo managed to pull himself onto the table with a little bit of help. He knew they were going to examine him but he wasn’t looking forward to it. He didn’t know if he would be able to handle the pain and humiliation. 

Everyone was asked to leave the room while Don and LH would see to Leo. Donny knew that it was going to be hard enough for Leo as it was, he didn’t need an audience. 

“We’re here for you, Leo.” April patted Leo’s shoulder affectionately, trying to offer some comfort. 

“Thanks, April.” Leo said softly, unable to look at her. She didn’t know what had happened, but she would soon enough. He would lose all their respect. 

April left the room and with the door closed, Don and Leatherhead got to work. 

Don had looked at Leo’s arms not too long ago, and there seemed to be something different about the bandages. He undid them and saw that his left arm had been splinted. So the Foot had obviously treated his injuries. 

The splint was reapplied and the bandages were changed. His hand was then examined. It was sore, but not much could be done for it. But Don was worried if he was going to have to re-break the bones or not. They were so severely bruised and hadn’t had been properly treated when he was originally injured. 

It was hurting Leo to even sit there, he just wanted to lie down, but he was needed to sit up at the moment. He watched Don as he worked and looked for any signs of pity or shame. He knew his brother would never look at him the same way again. 

Don undid the bandages on his injured thigh next. He wanted to treat the more simple injuries first because he would be able to get them done the fastest. 

“Leatherhead, could you get me the suture kit? This cut is pretty deep.” Don said. 

Leatherhead was glad to oblige. He walked over to the supply closet and pulled out the small kit while Don cleaned out the wound. Leatherhead handed it over to Don and the turtle began to gently sew Leo’s leg up. 

Leo winced at the needle, but he had dealt with it before. At least Don had injected him with a local numbing agent. 

When Don finished with Leo’s leg, he instructed Leo to lie on his back and Leo was more than happy to oblige. The bandages around his belly were undone and both Don and LH could see that Leo had been operated on and that his plastron had been glued back together.

“We may have to open your plastron again just to see what they did.” Leatherhead said. “But I hope that it is something that we can avoid.”

“We need to take an x-ray anyway to get a look at Leo’s ribs. They’re injured on the right side.” Don explained. 

They also took a look at his side and the injury didn't look too bad this time. In a few days, these stitches could come out. 

Leo knew he wasn’t going to like his recovery. His injuries had gone too long without proper treatment, and they could be healing wrong. It was all going to have to start all over again. He wondered if he was ever going to be whole again.

Then came the most painful part and Don hesitated before saying, “Leo, I know you don’t want this, but even your privates need to be looked at after what we saw them do to you.” Don tried to be as tender as he could. “I promise we’ll be gentle.” 

Leo knew Don had seen it, but with their croc friend in the room, this part of the exam had become even more personal. Don was going to have to tell Leatherhead all that was done, all that Leo let them do because he was too weak to stop them. 

Leo groaned. He didn’t want that part of him touched at all. It was still painful to the touch, or whenever he moved it, to remember. 

As Don got nearer to his legs, Leo watched him and he instantly pulled his legs up close to his body. He was scared and his breathing was heavier, hurting his ribs. 

Don could see the worried look in Leo’s eyes and decided that it might be better to sedate his brother. He didn’t want to do that, but if he could avoid having Leo go through more pain, he would gladly help him avoid it. He was also worried his brother might be seeing him as a threat at the moment when Don wanted to examine him down there to make sure that there wasn’t any serious damage. 

“Alright, Leo, calm down.” Don held his hands up in surrender. He stepped away from Leo’s legs. “How about this: I don’t want you to go through any more pain so… how about I give you a sedative? You won’t have to feel the pain.” Don asked. “You’ve been through enough.” 

Leo calmed down a little and tried to come to his senses. “Yeah. That would be better.” He reluctantly agreed. He just wanted to escape from his pain and sleep. 

A pad was removed from one of Leo’s arms and an IV was prepared. Then he was given an injection to make him go to sleep. 

After Leo was out, it made examining in between his legs so much easier. Donny went over what had been done to him, leaving out the unnecessary details. 

Don saw that there was some torn skin around the tail and the cloaca. A little earlier, he had also seen some dried white stuff on Leo’s plastron, and understanding it was the semen. He would clean that off in a bit. It would be gone before Leo woke up. 

The procedure would have been more painful for Leo if he had still been awake because a speculum had to be inserted just to see if there was any internal damage. There was some minor tearing but nothing so bad that it was life threatening. Don applied some antibiotic ointment to the damaged areas. 

The difficult part was pulling Leo’s penis out enough to see if there was any damage to it. The surface was fine, but there was still a chance that there was damage or a urinary track infection from the sounding. They would have to wait for Leo to wake up to get a urine sample from him to be sure. 

Don used a sonogram device to look at Leo’s insides and was relieved to see that no invasive procedures were necessary. It would take a while for the infection to clear, but antibiotics and probiotics would help the process along. 

Leo would have to be watched over the next couple of days as his body fought off all of the infections to make sure that his fever didn’t get too high. He would have to rely on the nurturance from the IV for the next few days until his stomach was ready to take in food again. 

The damage to Leo’s chest was, fortunately, a series of fractures and nothing was severely broken or out of place. 

By the time Leatherhead and Don were done, well over three hours had passed. After Leo’s exam, Don had Raph and Mikey come in for exams too. Though they just wanted to see Leo, Don insisted that they wait until he had seen them. 

Mikey was just fine and was allowed to see Leo first, but Raph had to have his wrists reexamined.

His wrists had been torn open again in his struggle to get loose. Don cleaned them up carefully by having him soak them in a bowl of hydrogen-peroxide. The liquid bubbled as it fought the infection that was spreading over Raph’s wounds. Raph couldn’t help but wince at the pain, but he let the peroxide do its job. Don then coated them with antibacterial ointment and re-bandaged them. Raph was then allowed to see Leo. 

Leo continued to rest in his sedated state, surrounded by his family and friends. Don knew that once he woke up, they would have to deal with more than just his physical injuries. It wouldn’t be the first time Leo would have to conquer the stress that came with a traumatic event but, in Don’s opinion, it was going to be much worse than last time.


	17. Chapter 17

Leo was lying in the infirmary. His mask and gear had been removed. Don checked Leo’s temperature every few hours. His fever was higher than Don would have liked it to be. 

When Leo’s sedative wore off, he was still in and out of unconsciousness. He was moaning and groaning in his sleep, head tossing back and forth. He seemed to be in pain or having nightmares. Everyone was worried about him. They wished they could do more for him. 

At a time like this, they really wished Leo could be taken to a hospital. 

Don had Mikey get some fresh water, and when Mikey brought the water back, Don put a washcloth in the cool water and rang it out and put it on Leo’s forehead. 

April, Splinter, and Casey had been briefly told of what happened to Leo, leaving out the more intimate details. But it was just enough to help them understand. 

Leo was feverish for over a day and when it broke, he was still weak. But he did open his eyes and look around. He saw he was in the infirmary in the lair. He still felt dizzy and a little feverish. 

For the moment, everyone else was out of the room but one person. They all had to reluctantly go and refresh themselves with food and showers. The turtles were in desperate need of them both. 

Leo saw that April was in the room with him at the moment. He groaned and she looked up from the book she had been reading. 

“Leo? You awake?” She asked gently. 

“Barely.” He said weakly. 

She got up off the chair and came over to him. He didn’t want to look at her. What he had woken up from he had hoped was a nightmare, but he saw the IV and did feel some pain in some parts of his body underneath the blanket. 

“Are you thirsty? I have some water for you.” April said. 

Leo turned his head back over towards her. She had a glass of water with a straw in her hand. He realized how dry his mouth felt and knew he hadn’t had anything to drink for a while. 

“Yeah, a little.” He said as he began to raise himself up on his elbows and with his left hand, took the glass. He wasn’t going to let her give it to him like a little baby. 

His hand was a little shaky, but he held onto it. He pushed the straw aside and slowly drank the precious liquid to hopefully not upset his stomach, as it was still bound to be sore and infected. 

When the water did hit his stomach, the pain that erupted felt like burning acid. 

April offered him some relief for the pain. Though he was reluctant to take any pills, April insisted to get his stomach on a healing start. He needed to be eating again as soon as possible. The pills had been probiotics and some antibiotics to start working the infection out of his system and get his digestion back to normal. 

Soon after, April called the family back in, informing them that Leo was awake. 

“How are you feeling, Leo?” Don asked. 

Leo was still refusing to look at anyone unless he had to. “The same as before, Don.” 

Don reached out to touch Leo and he flinched. Leo hadn’t flinched in years and especially not at Don’s touch. “It will be alright, Leo,” he tried to soothe. 

Leo closed his eyes. With his family around him he didn’t feel support, he felt naked and exposed. They would never be able to have any respect for him. He was weak. He had failed. If he had a dagger he would commit Seppuku. 

“Leo?” Mikey stepped forward. 

Leo’s eyes snapped open and he glared at Mikey. Anger and resentment bubbled up inside of him and it all just came spilling out. “You stay away from me. I wouldn’t be in this condition if I hadn’t taken your place.”

“Leonardo,” Splinter chided him softly. 

“Or maybe if you hadn’t taken your time coming to the rescue,” Leo snapped. “When I stepped forward, I expected it to be a few days at most. What was it? You couldn’t pull yourself away from your soaps long enough?”

Don could see how agitated Leo had become and got the others to leave. There was a little bit of protesting from Raph, he wanted to give Leo a piece of his mind, but in the end, Splinter managed to get them out. 

Don continued to examine Leo, noting how tense he was. At least Leo wasn’t directing any of his anger towards Don at that moment. He knew it was going to take longer for Leo’s mind to heal than it was going to take his body.   
…………………………

Mikey ran up to his room. It was hard to breathe. Leo had gone through all of that to protect him and now he hated him for it. 

The horrific sounds of Leo’s torture echoed in his ears. 

That easily could have been him. No, he corrected himself. He wouldn’t have lasted as long. Shredder would have broken him long before that or worse, killed him. 

He hated seeing Leo so broken. He admired his brother and no matter what Shredder had done to him that would never change. 

He wanted to help Leo get better, but Leo didn’t want anything to do with him. That is what hurt the most. 

There was a knock on the door followed by someone opening it. “Mikey?” Raph said as he entered the room. “Don’t take what Leo said to heart. He’s upset, he didn’t mean it. Trust me. I know what it’s like to say things that you don’t really mean when upset.”

Mikey turned to look at Raph and all he could do was cry. Raph rushed over to his side and pulled him into a warm embrace. 

“It’s okay, Mikey,” Raph soothed.   
……………………….

As the days passed, Leo started to feel some of his strength return, though his spirit remained broken. He would force himself to drink the meal replacement shakes that April had bought for him. He needed something in his stomach. 

The infection was the first to heal, but the damage done by the surgeries continued to make it difficult to eat. 

He was alone in the lab, he was often alone. Mikey hadn’t even tried to come back to see him since that first day. Don had told Leo that he would be allowed to leave after he was able to properly eat again. Until then Leo would get his nutrients through the IV. 

Guilt filled Leo, knowing that he was draining their precious few resources. It’s not like vitamin infused solution was easy to come by, or clean needles. He just wanted out of Don’s lab so he could shut himself up in his room. 

He was able to walk around the lab, pulling the IV stand with him. Don actually encouraged him to do it often to prevent blood clots in his legs. He paced back and forth. 

He could hear voices from just outside the room and moved over to the door to listen. 

“I’ve never seen him so bad,” Raph said. “And Mikey… It took me an hour to calm him down the other night. He has nightmares every night. I sleep next to him to help.”

“It was traumatizing for Mikey and he kept his eyes closed. It didn’t help knowing that it could have been him on that table.” Don stated. “I don’t blame Leo. What they did to him would break any of us. And I have no doubt that if it had been Mikey on that table, Leo would still be in bad shape for letting it happen.”

“Leo’s strong,” Raph insisted like he was trying to convince himself more than Don. “He’s gonna get through this.”

“He has overcome so much already,” Splinter agreed. “But we all have our breaking points.”

“Leo’s not gonna let Shredder win,” Raph said. “He’s too good for that.”

“Time will tell,” Don stated softly. “I can heal his body but his mind…, he will need you for that, Sensei.”

“Once he is strong enough,” Splinter said, “I will start to work with him. Maybe, once he is able to eat, it would be good for us all to get out of the city for a little while. The weather is nice and the fresh air will do you boys some good.” 

“As soon as Leo is able to eat again, we should go to the farm,” Don agreed. 

Leo had heard enough and made his way back over to the bed. Sitting down, he looked down at his damaged hand and wondered if he was ever going to be able to hold a sword again. 

Shredder had taken everything from him; his honor, his ability to fight, and his dignity. He lied down and closed his eyes, hoping to escape his reality in his dreams.   
…………………

A few days later, Leo reluctantly managed to eat some soup that Mikey had made for him. Though it had been Don that brought it in for him. 

“The infection’s been cleared from your system. You need to try to have something stronger than those shakes.” Don explained. 

Leo ate the soup and didn’t have too much of a problem with pain. 

With a few more meals of soup or even some sandwiches and not getting any more pain in his stomach, Don removed the IV from Leo’s arm. 

Now that he was free from the IV, that did make Leo a little more happy, but when he went walking about the lair for a moment, he went into the dojo. 

He walked over to the weapons rack. He saw his katanas there. There was a chance that when his broken arm healed, he could still wield a sword with that one, but he was worried about his broken hand. Would it heal enough to where he could wield one in that hand too? Only time would tell. 

Leo had thought about taking a kunai with him, but for now, he left the dojo to just go to his room. He just wanted to be left alone. 

He ran into Mikey on the way. 

“Oh, sorry Leo.” Mikey said. 

“I’m fine, Mikey. Leave me be.” Leo said and continued on up to his room. 

Mikey noticed that Leo didn’t have the same kind of look in his eyes as he used to before their capture. Now his look was cold and uncaring. Unforgiving even. He hoped Leo still didn’t hate him. 

Leo had saved his life and he was grateful for that. He just wanted his real brother back. The caring one. The one who would act like his big brother who loved him. 

When Leo got to his room, he closed and locked the door. He went over to his bed and sat down. He had missed his room so much. 

His room spoke of an honorable place, and after he had had everything taken from him, how would he get it back? 

Leo couldn’t help himself when he began to cry. He didn’t want help. He felt he didn’t belong here anymore. 

He eventually cried himself to sleep.   
……………

After a few more good meals and everything seemed fine, Don said now that Leo was doing much better, it was time to go up to the farmhouse. 

Leo sat guiltily on the couch as he saw and heard his family packing some things up to head to the farm and there was nothing he could do to help with his two injured limbs. 

Master Splinter felt bad for what his son was feeling, but he knew this would be good for him and his brothers. Leonardo especially needed to find himself again. He would start trying to help him out at the farmhouse. 

Once all packed up, Leo was encouraged to go to the Battle Shell. He was able to sit in a seat this time. He preferred it over lying flat on his back now that his injuries were a little more healed. 

With this new cold Leo in the truck, this was going to be a long drive.


	18. Chapter 18

On the way to the farm, everyone mostly sat in silence. If they had something to say, they would talk to anyone but Leo and he was fine with that.

Leo sat in his seat mostly staring out the back windows, what he could manage to see out of them. He was mostly thinking of just how much he wanted to get out of the truck and vanish. But he knew it would be unwise while his injuries were still healing. But it didn’t mean he couldn’t go for walks. 

Mikey was up front with Don, who was driving. Don knew Leo was well enough and no longer needed to be under constant supervision. He was getting stronger with every passing day, physically. But Mikey continued to worry that Leo was still mad at him. Sometime while they were up the farm, he would try to talk to his brother. He wanted to let him know how much he appreciated what Leo had done and how much he admired his strength. 

Master Splinter and Raph sat in the back with Leo. They knew that Leo was trying to avoid looking at them. He hadn’t been the same since the rescue. Splinter was trying to think of ways to help him get over what was ailing him, but he knew it wouldn’t be easy after what he had been through with the Foot. Physical ailments were easy to heal, but the hidden psychological ones would take a great deal of work. 

Raphael didn’t like seeing Leo’s dark, broody behavior. He really didn’t want him to turn into another hothead like him. He thought he would never admit it, but there were times in the past Raph liked having Leo’s calm nature at his side. It kept him in balance a lot more. He was worried for him just as his family was. 

Raphael looked down at his wrists. They were almost healed at this point. The infection had cleared and his wrists were out to the air again, nothing more than some scabs waiting to finish healing. They were nothing compared to Leo’s wounds. 

April and Casey were driving up in April’s van. They too were worried for the blue clad leader and his well-being. 

Soon, they arrived at the farmhouse after a good seven hour drive. Traffic was bad getting out of the city and they ran into some road construction on the highway. 

Leo huffed as he opened the door. He just wanted to go for a walk, but his father insisted he go inside first. It was late at night and Splinter didn’t want his son out on his own. He didn’t feel that he was ready. 

The others continued to unpack the van and truck while Leo was made to sit on the old, dusty sofa. Leo hated that he couldn’t help. He crossed his arms over his plastron, feeling irritated. He just wanted to get away from everything and everyone. 

Once everyone was done bringing stuff inside, Splinter said, “It is late. We should all get to bed. It has been a long drive.” 

They all agreed. They were all tired. All but Leo. He wasn’t sleepy. He got up from the couch and went to the kitchen. “Sorry, but I’m not tired.” Leo said solemnly as he went through the door. 

Despite his injured hand and arm, Leo began to make himself a cup of tea to see if it would help to calm his nerves. He didn’t want to face his family and their pity. He knew they would make him talk about what had happened or try to sympathize. 

Splinter shook his head. The training for his son couldn’t start soon enough. They would try to start in the morning with meditation. He stayed up, sitting on the sofa so that Leo wasn’t alone while everyone else went to bed.   
…………….

The next day, Splinter had Don, Mikey, and Raph go through their morning katas before he would start some mental exercises with Leonardo. Leo watched from the porch. Despite his mood, he couldn’t deny that watching his brothers train was soothing. How he wished he could be out there, sparring with them. He wanted everything to go back to normal.

After he was done training the trio, Splinter let the them go and do as they wished. Then he ordered Leo to come and sit down with him. 

Leo reluctantly did as he was told and sat down in in front of his father. 

“Leonardo, I know that there is something deep inside of you that is troubling you, my son. You must not let this burden take hold of you. You must learn to channel it emotionally. You can overcome this, my son. You must.” Splinter explained. “I know what the Shredder and the Foot did to you was horrible, but if you can’t control these bad thoughts that plague your mind, they will win.” 

“Master, I just feel like I’ve failed. I’ve tried not to surrender to them, but they forced me to. I didn’t have a choice.” 

“Leonardo, you have not failed your brothers. You protected them by letting them take you. Michelangelo has told me that you voluntarily took his place to save him. You were doing what any leader and loving big brother would do for his youngest brother. But Michelangelo is troubled over how you might be feeling toward him. You should straighten that out.” 

“Yes, I know. I don’t hate him, I was just mad with grief at the time over what had happened to me. But then, I’m also worried about if I’ll ever be able to train again.” Leo said and held up his right hand. “If this hand will ever be able to hold a sword properly again.” 

“I understand, Leonardo. But for now, you still have much more healing to do. Both mentally and physically. I want to try to help you release these burdens in your mind, but you have to let me and your family help you as well. They only want to help.” 

“Right now, Master Splinter, I really don’t feel like I’m in any shape to be my brothers’ leader. The Foot really damaged my way of thinking. I need some time off from being a leader.” Leo said sadly. “And, I know they mean well, but I don’t want them near me.”

“Why?”

“Because I can see it in their eyes,” Leo choked out. “Whenever they look at me, they see what had happened. It’s a flash in their eye before they manage to suppress it, but it’s there.”

Splinter could understand what he was saying. He and the others did want to help Leonardo, but there were looks of pity being shown that they felt bad for what had happened. 

“Master Splinter, I don’t think I’m ready for this. I really need a walk to clear my head.” Leo said. 

“Wait for a moment. I can see that your mind does need time to heal as your body does. You can have some time off from being a leader, my son. But in the mean time, just make sure to take care of yourself. But if needed, you can always come to us if you need help with something or want to talk.” Splinter said.

“I understand, Sensei. And thanks. Can I go now?” 

“Yes.” 

Leo loved his father, but he just even wanted to get away from the pity look on his father’s face too. 

Splinter reluctantly watched his son go behind the barn and was sure he was entering the woods. He would cut him some slack this time, but he would be watching his son carefully and making him do more later on.   
…………….

Leo had just wanted to get away from it all. The Foot had destroyed everything he had held dear with what gave him meaning in his life. He was glad that his brothers hadn’t been harmed, but he just didn’t like being treated like invalid. He could still take care of himself. 

While he was walking on a path in the woods, Leo saw a good sized stick on the ground and walked over to it. He picked it up in his left hand. His arm didn’t bother him much anymore and he began to make moves with it as if it were one of his katanas. 

He missed his swords. While moving the stick about, thoughts of just not being able to wield a sword with his right hand anymore brought tears to his eyes, and he couldn’t help but break down. At least no one was around to see him cry. 

He stayed by a tree and let his sadness go for awhile, but when he felt he was done, he had a headache and felt tired. He got up from beside the tree and decided to bring the stick with him. It would give his arm some practice before he started using real katanas again. 

When he got back to the house, he hid his stick in the barn and went inside to have a nap to hopefully settle his headache.


	19. Chapter 19

Over the next few weeks, Leo continued to watch his brothers as they practiced. He was so jealous that he couldn’t, he wanted a sense of normalcy. He would eat meals with his family while, at the same time, avoiding doing much with them. 

He did some exercises with Splinter every day. Light yoga and simple katas were all that he was permitted to do. He needed to keep his strength up but they didn’t want him hurting himself. Splinter also made him meditate with him to try to help him clear his mind of unnecessary thoughts. 

No matter how much the others tried to get through to him, Leo just seemed to get further away from them in his mind. Their looks of pity were a constant reminder of what had happened. He just wanted to forget.

So he would retreat to the barn or the woods when he could manage to sneak out. He would practice with the stick that he found in the woods. He could still use his left hand, but he would wait until the bandages came off his right hand before trying to use it with the stick too. 

Mikey was constantly trying to approach Leo, but a harsh glare from the oldest turtle had Mikey backing off. It worked for a while but one day, Mikey managed to get in close. 

"Can we talk?"

Leo just turned away to avoid his little brother. 

"I just wanted to let you know…," Mikey’s voice shook, "…that I love you. You saved my life and for that I will always be grateful." He paused and Leo could hear Mikey’s struggle to keep his composure. "I’m sorry… You are way better than me. I’m not worth what you had to go through. You should have just let them have me."

Leo felt his heart skip a beat as Mikey’s words hit him. He turned to say something but Mikey had run off, though his sobs could still be heard. Closing his eyes, Leo fought the pang of guilt that bubbled up. He was now aware that because of his harsh words his baby brother was thinking that he wasn't worthy of everything he had done for him. Even worse, Michelangelo was thinking that everything would be better if he were dead.

Leonardo stayed out in the woods until the sun started to go down then headed back to the house. 

Leo wanted as little time with the others as possible, but he still had to let Donatello examine his injuries. So every few days Leo would appear next to his brother, ready for his checkup. "Your wounds are healing. Some better than others but I think you are going to be okay. Is anything giving you any problems?" Don tried to get him to open up. 

He could get him to talk of the injuries, how they felt, but Leo wouldn’t talk to him about the misery that he felt. "No," Leo shook his head. "Most of the pain and stiffness has subsided."

Don didn’t want to push Leo so much and upset him so he let the subject go for now. He also didn’t want him to hurt himself more. His physical injuries were getting close to being healed, though the plastron would take longer to heal. 

At some point, Leonardo saw a tiny but unmistakable glint of gladness when his smartest brother was checking him up. That look in Donatello's eyes showed how happy the purple clad turtle felt knowing that his big brother was healing nicely, physically at least. 

"All done?" Leo asked. When Don nodded, Leo was gone again.

It was also hard on Raph to see Leo like this. He didn’t like seeing him this way. If his brother didn’t have the physical injuries, he might have to pile on some tough love. But even he didn’t want him to get hurt all over again. 

"Hey Leo," Raph said, running up to his brother. "How are you feeling?"

Leo sighed and answered with a shrug. His brothers were starting to push things a little more. He liked it better when they gave him his space.

"You wanna go blow off some steam?" Raph offered. "I know you aren’t ready to be hitting things yet, but I got a great idea."

Leo had to admit that he was intrigued as to what Raph had in mind. So he let himself be led to the barn and Raph revealed a stack of broken dishes that was hidden under a sheet.

"I talked April in to asking the nearby diners for any plates and stuff that they had to throw out."

Leo lifted an eye ridge, "Why?"

"For this," Raph smiled and picked up a chipped coffee cup. He then flung it at the brick oven and the cup shattered upon contact. "It feels good to break stuff. Try it."

Leo looked down in the box of old plates. Some still had pieces of dried food stuck to them. Reaching in the box, Leo grabbed a broken plate and lobbed it at the bricks.

He had to admit that the sound of it shattering did feel good. So he picked up another dish and threw it. 

Raph took a few steps back and let Leo have at it. 

One by one, Leo threw the broken dishes at the brick oven. He fed his anger and torment into each piece and let it fly. "Why did he have to take it that far?!" He yelled as he threw another piece. "The torture and the pain I was handling just fine… but…," with a hard scream he threw another piece. "He took my dignity. My honor!"

He reached down for another piece, but the box was empty. So he picked that up and threw it. Tears streamed down his cheeks and he dropped to his knees. 

"He didn’t take your honor, Leo," Raph said, keeping his voice soft. "You did nothing wrong. You saved Mikey. You know as well as I do that he wouldn’t have lasted that long. Shredder was the one who lost what little honor he had left. Those Foot goons too. I…"

Raph had to take a moment to regain his composure. Leo looked back at him to see that his hotheaded brother was crying.

"I have more respect for you now than I ever did, Leo. I want you to know that."

"After what you saw?" How could Raph have any respect for him?

"What I saw was a group of sickos stooping to the lowest level because they had no other way to break you." Walking over, Raph dropped to his knees next to Leo. "You are the strongest person I know. I would follow you to hell and back."

Leo didn’t know what to say. He wouldn’t have been able to say anything anyway since his throat had closed up on him. 

"Don’t get me wrong," Raph cocked a grin. "I’m still gonna question your orders and give you a hard time. I’m not gonna become a pushover after this."

Leo chuckled, "I wouldn’t dream of it."

Raph shrugged, "It’s my job to make you second guess yourself, to keep you out of trouble and really think things through."

"I wouldn’t have it any other way," Leo managed a smile. After wiping his hand over his face in an attempt to dry his tears, Leo stood. "There’s something I need to do."

"Okay," Raph nodded and stood. 

Leo placed his hand on Raph’s shoulder. "Thank you."

"I know you’d do it for me." Raph smiled and they came together in a warm embrace.

Leo sought out Mikey and found his little brother in the attic. Mikey looked miserable. Leo walked over and sat beside him. "I don’t hate you. I’m sorry I lashed out at you like that. Can you forgive me?"

Mikey had been happy that Leo said he didn’t hate him. He lunged toward Leo and pulled him into his arms. Mikey’s body shook with his sobs of relief as he held and was held by his brother. It proved to him that his real brother was still in there somewhere. He just needed to work past this deep pain that he felt. 

With Mikey's body in his arms, Leonardo realized that for just a moment that the pity looks on his little brothers' faces towards him, were gone. The happiness reflected in Donnie's eyes, the admiration in Raph's eyes and the innocent love in Mikey's eyes proved him that every one of them still loved him and more importantly they still respected him. 

But he didn't think the same about himself. Before his own eyes, he was the one that wasn't worthy anymore of his family's love.


	20. Chapter 20

While Leo had been deemed to be taken off of his leadership duties as he had wanted, he had also been granted his own private room. He just needed time for himself and not be pestered. But most of all, Leo had wanted his own room because he didn’t want the others to know of the awful nightmares he was having. 

He often woke up all sweaty and scared out of his wits. Reliving what happened to him in his dreams was just really getting to him. Not even his father’s meditation techniques were helping him with this. 

Though there was still a little pain, Leo was glad he was getting the splint and bandages off in a few days. They felt healed now, and he was more than ready to get back into training. He needed to feel normal again, to get back into his routine.  
………….

When Don had removed everything off of Leo’s hand and arm, he asked, “So how do they feel, Leo?”

Leo moved his arm and hand. His left arm felt fine. But there was a little pain in his hand. But he said, “They feel just fine, Don. So when can I begin training again?” 

“Tomorrow. Let them be out to the air for today.” Don answered. “Try stretching them a little, but nothing too vigorous.”

“I will,” Leo nodded. He was more than happy to hear it. He immediately went out to the barn and began to practice katas with the special stick that he found. His left arm had been working with the stick for long enough to have strength in it. Now he needed to get his right hand working again. 

He took the stick up in his right hand and there was still a slight pain, but Leo wasn’t going to let it deter him. His hand was just weak from not having been used in so long. 

But despite having the bandages off his hand and arm, he still had a covering on his plastron to hold it together. He was deemed well enough he could also go without bandages around his middle too. But he knew that when that covering came off, he would have some ugly scarring on his plastron. 

The scars would remind him every day of what he had been forced to endure at the wrath of the Shredder’s minions. He would train hard to get himself back from the brink of weakness. 

He would strike at invisible opponents with loud yells of anger. He had to let the pent up anger out. And he refused to cry anymore. 

He worked through his pain, both physical and mental. 

Despite Don’s advice to keep things simple, Leo pushed himself. He used the stick, arching in the familiar ways of his swords. He needed to know that he could do it. If he ever wanted to be leader again, he needed to be able to fight. 

His sides hurt and his hand shook, but he kept going. He envisioned the Foot soldiers as his opponents and let himself get lost in the fantasy. It felt good to imagine the deaths of the Foot soldiers who had hurt him. Their faces were engrained in his memories. 

All he saw was their faces. He spun and lunged, using the stick like a sword. As his blood pumped faster and the muscles warmed up, the pain lessened.

He struck and his hand met solid matter, sending a shockwave of pain through his arm. He snapped out of his trance and saw Raph standing in front of him, holding his nose. “What the hell, Leo?” He pulled his hand away and checked it for blood. “I thought you were supposed to be taking it easy. What are you doing?”

Leo didn’t know what to say. He felt a mix of guilt and anger. He knew that he wasn’t supposed to be pushing himself so much, but what business was it of Raph’s? 

Without a word, Leo pushed past his brother and stormed out of the barn. Raph called after him, but Leo didn’t want to be bothered so he started to run.

He didn’t know where he was going; he just wanted to be away from there. He headed for the tree line and into the forest. He just kept running, driven by his anger and pain. 

By the time he stopped he had no idea where he was. He just collapsed to the ground, falling to his knees. His body was shaking. 

His lungs burned as he struggled to get his breathing under control. In time he calmed himself down. As the adrenaline rush faded, the pain came back in full force, stealing his breath away. 

He fell to his side and curled up into a ball. He breathed into the pain, trying to get his mind under control. “I am a ninja master. I am a master of myself and of my environment. I can overcome this.”

He calmed his mind and focused on his breathing. In time, the pain subsided and he was able to stand. He took a deep breath and settled his nerves. He knew that he couldn’t stay away for long and needed to get back to the house. He just wasn’t all that excited about the lecture he was going to receive once he got there. 

He followed the signs of his run through the forest to find his way back home. Broken branches and disturbed plant life told Leo all he needed to know. 

“Leo!” Mikey called out in the distance and it was soon echoed by Raph and Don. 

His family was looking for him and he felt a slight swell of guilt over making them worry. 

He followed the sound of their voices and headed back to them. When he emerged from the tree line, he was met by his brothers. They rushed to him. 

“Are you alright?” Don asked, checking Leo over. “Does anything hurt?”

“I’m okay,” Leo assured him. 

“You didn’t have to run out like that, Leo,” Raph told him. “If you wanna start training again, I’m more than happy to spar with you.”

“If you really wanted to get back to training that bad you should have told me,” Don said. “I would have come up with a routine for you to do that would help you without hurting you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Leo said, looking down. “I’m sorry.”

“All we want is for you to talk to us, Leo.” Mikey’s voice was pleading. “We want to help you get back to your old self.”

Leo’s heart sank. “I don’t think that I will ever be the same, Mikey.”

“No matter what,” Don insisted. “We are here for you, Leo.”

“Thanks,” Leo sighed. “I’m trying.”

“You don’t have to do it alone,” Raph said, pulling Leo in to a firm, yet gentle hug. 

Leo flinched a little at the touch, but did relax into the hug and wrapped his arms around his brother’s shell. 

Then Mikey said, “How about some dinner, Leo? You must have been training for a long time, and then when you ran away.”

Leo and Raph let go of one another. Leo felt his stomach growl, as it had been since breakfast that he ate last. “Sure Mikey.” He said with a smile.   
…………….

The next day, Leonardo was more than happy to be back in the game of training with his brothers. Splinter was watching. 

Leo was teamed up with Don this morning, just to test to see how his reflexes were and how well Leo’s arm and hand could go about holding his swords again, as they could be quite heavy for one who wasn’t used to carrying them. 

His arm seemed to be stronger and could hold the katana quite well due to the practicing with the stick. But his hand was having a big problem with pain. Leo couldn’t help but wince as he dropped the katana in that hand. 

“You just need to get the hand a little stronger first. Start lifting some weights in that hand, Leo.” Don suggested. 

“I will.” Leo replied. Then training went on. 

Today, Leo was also back to wearing his sword harness. Both his swords were placed back in it, but for the moment, Leo could only train left handed. 

After training and breakfast, Donny went to his lab that he had made up there at the farm and he began a plan for Leo’s workout times. 

As for Leo, he still didn’t feel done. That was when Raph stepped in to help him this time, but they moved to the wooden weapons. He had seen how his brother’s hand was in training. 

Splinter wanted to see Leonardo after he was done practicing with Raphael. 

Mikey went about his usual activities before it was time to start fixing some lunch. He was even ordered to do some chores around the house, which he couldn’t help but whine at. He hated cleaning, other than cleaning up the kitchen when he made the messes. 

When Leo and Raph were finished with their sparring, Leo went to see his father for what he knew to probably be just another meditation session. 

Leo sat down in front of his father. “I’m ready to begin, Sensei.” 

“Good, my son, but today, I do want to try something different. I saw that there is a problem with your hand. I know you haven’t used it in so long because it was broken, but I have a little something here that might help it to heal faster.” Splinter explained. 

The turtle saw his father hold up a box and when he opened it, Leo saw some needles inside it. He saw they weren’t like Don’s needles. These were acupuncture needles. 

“These needles might also help your hand heal faster too. They have helped people heal from injuries a lot faster over the centuries.” Splinter said. 

“Ok. I’m willing to try anything at this point.” Leo said. 

Leo let Splinter find and use certain spots in his hand to stick the needles in. He knew acupuncture could be effective in helping his hand heal better. At this point, he was willing to try anything. 

Once the needles were in place, the two of them settled into meditation. Splinter had Leo envision the pain lifting and going away with breathing techniques and positive thinking. 

Leo envisioned the pain going away and him once again using his katana the way he used to. 

The needles were left in for about 15 minutes and when this lesson was over, Leo had felt like a weight had lifted from his hand. 

“I have to admit, Master Splinter, that my hand does feel more better than before.” Leo said. 

“We may have to continue this a few more times over the next few days just to be sure, but I am happy to hear that it is helping, Leonardo.” Splinter said. 

Then they went into their regular meditation session. Leo left it feeling much lighter than before.


	21. Chapter 21

Over the next few days, Splinter continued the acupuncture on Leo’s hand, and it seemed to be helping, along with lifting weights. It was helping Leo to get it in shape again to hold his katana like before. 

Now that Leo was recovered enough physically, the turtles were ready to return to the city. They would get ready to go home in a few days. They missed the noise and the lair and their stuff at home. But once they got home, they would want to try to come up with a plan to take down the Shredder. They weren’t going to let him get away with hurting their leader! 

Leonardo was more than ready for revenge on the Shredder and the Foot. He felt he was strong enough now to take him on. But his father assured him that he wouldn’t be doing it alone. Shredder just couldn’t be taken on alone, at least the turtles couldn’t do it by themselves. He was their most deadly adversary. 

Leo’s nightmares still hadn’t improved much on their own, but he felt the sooner they put the smack down on Shredder, the sooner he would feel like himself again. 

“I understand your need for revenge,” Splinter told him one day while they were meditating. “However, do not let it consume you to the point that you are blind to everything else. When you do face him, do not jeopardize your family to get at him. They will support you in the fight, but do not risk everything to get him.”

“I understand, Father,” Leo bowed. “I will not let my desire for vengeance cloud my judgment.” 

A soft smile spread across Splinter’s lips, “I chose you to be leader for a reason, Leonardo. You, among your brothers, have shown that you are best at overcoming adversity. You can see a problem and work your way through it. You know the strengths and weaknesses of everyone on your team and how best to use them. A tactician at his finest. I am proud of you, my son. You have come through this admirably.”

“Thank you, Father,” Leo choked out past the building emotion. “You and my brothers have been a huge help.”

“We are all here for you,” Splinter soothed. 

Leo nodded, “I know. I don’t think I would have been able to survive this if I didn’t have your support.”

His brothers spent a good deal of time with him when he would let them. He had taken their words to heart this time. And for that, he had also asked them if they would accept him again as their leader. 

“You will always be our leader, Leo.” Mikey said. “You inspire us to go on.”

“No one else could do the job like you can.” Don said. 

“What the Shredder and the Foot did to you didn’t take away who you are. Or your honor. We will get them back for it, and we are behind you all the way, bro.” Raph said, slamming his fist into his hand. 

Leo smiled. He was ready to take the role back again, but he still needed to be a little stronger first. 

Raphael definitely was helping him get stronger in training again. And he was sticking to a workout time that Donatello had worked out for him. Mikey even tried to help him to try to be faster in making moves, though he couldn’t always pull a move like his youngest brother could, but he did try. 

Right now, when he did do some katas alone, he was more intense than ever at it. He still saw the Foot menaces that had tortured him, and he wanted to make them suffer. 

Don would at least once a week check the covering on Leo’s plastron to see if it still held in place and it still stayed on really good. Leo wished it would come off already. He had gotten used to it long ago, but still didn’t like the feeling of it. He felt that it hindered his ability to move his middle in training, especially if he had to twist his middle. 

One day while Leo’s cover was being looked at again, Don had to confess to Leo about something. 

“Leo, I know you don’t like talking about what happened to you and I know that you are still haunted by what happened. But you have to know, what we saw, it scared all of us too. We all wanted to get in that room and pound those ninjas into paste, but we just couldn’t because of the restraints. We all felt so useless in that moment. It just made us know even more how much of a monster that those Foot goons are. But don’t think for a minute that you made them do it. They did it because they have sick minds.” Don explained his thinking on the matter. 

“I realize that now, Donny. But after that, it just felt like they had taken everything from me. At the time, I was in so much pain and so humiliated that I just wanted to die. But I would have known I could have done all I could to protect you guys, and especially Mikey.” Leo said. 

“You know the Foot’s word can’t be trusted, Leo. If you had died, we would have felt guilty that we couldn’t save you. And before long, they would have started to torture us anyway. And I also especially worry about what they would have done to me too. But even I would take your place if it meant keeping you safe.” 

“I know, Don, but this family would be lost without you around to help be the emergency doctor and your technology knowledge. We just don’t understand the things that you do to be able to fix projects and make all the security for our lair. But we could always help you with some projects if you’ll let us. But the Foot would have really tried to destroy your mind more than any of us as that they know you are the smartest one of us all.” 

“I guess we all see someone else as more important to the team than we see ourselves,” Don chuckled lightly. “You are our leader, Leo. We all look up to you, even Raph, though he won’t admit it.”

Leo laughed, “Thanks, Don.”

That night Leo had a hard time sleeping. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the Foot ninja looming over him, his body remembering the pain they caused him. 

Despite his attempts to be quiet, he must have been making some noise. Either that, or Mikey was just intuitive. The youngest turtle approached Leo’s bed and without a word, crawled in. He wrapped his arms around Leo and held him in a brotherly embrace. 

It helped. With his brother beside him, Leo was able to relax and fall asleep.   
……………

The next morning, Leo felt more at peace since Mikey had been there for him last night. He thanked him later that morning for helping him sleep. Mikey was more than happy to oblige. 

Throughout his recovery, Leo still had gotten up early in the mornings even when he hadn’t been able to train. He had just done morning meditations by himself. But in those times, his soul had been miserable after what had happened to him. Now his soul felt more at peace thanks to his family helping him get through those hard times. 

At breakfast, it was pretty quiet. They were all thinking about going home. Tomorrow was the day they were heading back to the city. 

Mikey had made pancakes, toast, sausage, and bacon. Despite how quiet it was, the family was enjoying their food. 

Mikey was getting tired of the quiet. “Hey guys, I just had an idea.” 

His father and brothers all looked over at him. “Pray tell, what could that be?” Raph said. 

“Since this is our last day up here, how about we do something fun?” 

“Like what?” Leo asked. 

“How about we go swimming up at that lake near here? We haven’t been swimming for fun in a long time.” Mikey said. 

“I think Michelangelo is right. Since Leonardo couldn’t go swimming while recovering, and before we go home, you boys should go have some fun.” Splinter agreed. 

The agreement from Splinter with Mikey’s idea for once did bring smiles to the turtles’ faces. They did like to swim when the occasion arose for it. 

After breakfast was over, after a short time for letting their food settle, there was training, then the turtles set about getting ready to go to the lake for the day. 

Splinter knew he could use some time alone. But while he was waiting for his sons to leave, he did his meditation session with Leo one more time. 

“I hope you just let go of troubled thoughts today and just relax with your brothers, Leonardo. We have time when we get home to start planning our revenge against the Shredder.” Splinter advised. 

“I know. This will be good for us and me.” Leo agreed. 

While Leo and Splinter were in meditation, Mikey had made some lunch for the trip. He also checked the weather report. It was supposed to be a nice sunny day. 

Soon, the four brothers went and got in the Battle Shell and with the food supplies, they took off for the lake for hopefully, a fun afternoon in the sun and water.   
……………

Once they got there, they got their supplies out of the truck, a blanket to sit on for their lunch later on, some towels to use to dry off, and the basket with the food in it. There was also a cooler for their drinks to be kept cold while they were swimming. 

When they were done setting up their makeshift camp, they all took their gear off and went running for the lake. Mikey was teasing Raph to get him to chase him. Raph gave chase alright, and Leo and Don were also laughing just watching. 

Once in the water, all the turtles took turns splashing each other, going under the water, back floating, and just having plain good old fun. 

After a few hours of swimming, they all went ashore to have lunch. They all had worked up their appetites. 

Mikey unpacked the food while Don unpacked the drinks. It was water and sodas. Leo didn’t always drink soda, but he wasn’t above it on some special occasions. All the others wanted soda too. 

Mikey had packed ham and turkey sandwiches, some chips, some brownies he had made for dessert, and some pizza. 

They all enjoyed the lunch Mikey had made, then they did some basking in the sun for awhile, and went back to swimming before it started to get dark out. Then they all packed up and headed back to the farmhouse. 

For many hours, the brothers had just relaxed and didn’t talk about what happened to Leo. Leo had wanted it that way, but it was still on his mind about planning out on how to strike at the Shredder. But it had still been a great day overall just having a good time having fun with his brothers. 

Master Splinter had cooked up some spaghetti and rolls for supper when they got home. That was a good supper too. 

Good they enjoyed today, because tomorrow it was going to be all serious business again.


	22. Chapter 22

The next day, the mutant family began packing up to head back to New York. April and Casey had been away for the last two weeks, but were back today to help them get ready to go home. 

As excited as they were to be going home, the turtles were also nervous about what they were going home for. Sure, they just wanted to go home and stay home, but first thing before they could have any real peace of mind was to get the Shredder and his Foot clan back for what they had done. 

They packed up during the morning and rested the rest of the day. They would begin the journey home tonight when it was safer so no one could see who was driving their truck.

Leo knew that he and his brothers would have to be prepared for anything. He knew his father and friends would want to help in the fight too. He had no problem with that, but he had to be the one to lead the attack. So he had to plan this carefully. 

They drove home that night and were more than happy to finally be home again. They sure had missed their lair and were glad the Foot had not found and destroyed it. 

Don immediately got on his computer and was going to try to find where the Foot was now in operation. Where they had been rescued from was a castle mansion like place outside the city, but were they back at their regular headquarters now? 

Leo wanted to wait on Don’s answer before he started saying anything, but he began to try to get himself ready with some meditation. He had much to reflect on. 

Raph went over and began punching his punching bag, imagining he was beating up Foot goons for hurting his brother. 

Mikey went to his room to relax for a while and read his comics. He was joined by Klunk. The cat purred and nuzzled against Mikey’s hand. Without looking up from his comic, Mikey mindlessly started to scratch Klunk’s head. 

Master Splinter hoped his sons would stay strong, especially Leonardo after all he had been through. He had been through the hardest of it, and it had taken him a long time to come out of the funk he was in. He knew the Foot might mock him and he could easily reflect on that and it would be a waste if Leo went back into that state of mind. He would work with his son the next few days to make sure he wouldn’t go into that state of mind no matter what the Foot idiots said to his son. 

Raph wanted to get going to the Foot building now, but the family just needed the time to plan and make a strategy. 

Don found out they were back in New York at their regular headquarters. He got the blueprints on his computer. Much had changed since the last time they had infiltrated the place. April also helped him out. And also before the battle, Don would make sure the cover on Leo’s plastron was holding. Everything else for his brother seemed completely healed now. He just hoped Leo’s mind could handle what they were going into very soon. 

Leo, for the first time in his role as leader, could not come up with a logical plan of action, so with the help of his brothers, they came up with one.

Don had the blueprints in hand as the family of mutants and the extended family of two humans stood around the kitchen table going over battle plans.

"Well, I think we should just bust in there and take‘em by surprise!" Raph was telling his family during their meeting.

Leo looked over and told him.

"No, I don’t want any one getting hurt and I know that is what will happen if we just rush in there."

Mikey spoke next.

"What if we use me and Casey as a distraction? The two of us could cause a scene out front and you guys could go in from the side?" 

Leo really did not want to use Mikey as bait, but somehow that plan sounded flawless, as long as Mikey didn’t get caught in the process.

Splinter looked over at his sons and told them.

"I will be in the Battle Shell with April reading you the directions from the blueprints, since the building has changed so much we must remain vigilant of our surroundings. Otherwise, our encounter could become dangerous." 

Casey looked around the table at his friends and asked.

"What if the Foot, ya know, start to, ah, tease Leo about what happened?" 

Leo looked over at his human friend and said firmly.

"They won’t be breathing long if they do, cause I have had enough of their lip from what happened to me. I will always remember what happened in there, and God knows it’s gonna take forever to heal from the wounds, but damn it, I will not let it stop me from paying them back!"  
.............

With their plans settled, they made their final preparations and headed to the Battle Shell. The mood was a somber one as they drove down the streets of New York towards their enemy. Leo kept his mind on the task at hand and tried not to focus on what had been done to him. 

When they neared Foot headquarters, they parked the Battle Shell in a nearby ally to keep it out of sight. Leo and his brothers moved through the shadows as they approached the building. Everything needed to go as planned if they were going to succeed. 

Mikey and Casey broke off from the group to create their diversion.


	23. Chapter 23

Leo watched the side entrance to the Foot building from his perch on the fire escape on the next building over. Raph and Don beside him, he waited anxiously for Mikey and Casey's diversion.

"Wish they would hurry up already," Raph whispered impatiently.

"Shhh… Raph. It's coming," Leo whispered back.

"Mikey and Casey are in position," came April's reply through their headsets.

On Leo's left side, Don adjusted the headset on his head. "Standing by," he spoke softly as all three brothers looked to one another and prepared to slip inside the side entrance.

.….

Mikey crouched in the shadows next to Casey Jones, a huge grin on his face. "Ready, Case man?"

"Let's go have us some fun," Casey answered, pushing his hockey mask down in front of his face, baseball bat clutched tightly into his hand.

Mikey made a break for it, rounding the corner of the building their van was parked behind and slipped across the street to the front entrance of the Foot tower. Running straight up to the glass doors, he threw a shuriken, shattering the glass, letting the two through the front doors. "Somebody said there was a party here!"

"Goongala!" Casey cried, breaking through the glass. "Somebody turn up the music, cuz this party is getting ON!" He grinned at the front deskman, who had stood up, rapidly pushing a panic button, sirens filling the air.

"Come on, that's not good music," Mikey complained, running to the side double doors and slamming his nunchuck down on the handle of the right door, breaking the top of it. He slipped it down in front of the left door handle, effectively sealing the door from half the ninja flood that was sure to come.

Casey slipped around the front desk just as the double doors on the other side swung open with a good twenty ninjas pouring in. He slammed his bat into the back of the deskman's head, watching him crumple to the floor before he turned to the newcomers. "How nice of ya to join the party, ya goons. Ready for some fun, Mikey?"

Mikey smiled in glee. They were going to pay for hurting his brother as much as they had. It had taken so long to get Leo out of his funk, he was going to put every hurt of seeing his brother in pain into the strikes against these ninja. "Oh you bet I am, dude," he cheered, running forward as the bangs started on the double doors behind them, holding back the other half of ninjas for now.

.….

Splinter winced as soon as the sirens from the Foot building began sounding. It wasn't very loud, most likely due to not wanting to attract too much outside attention, but his sensitive ears could still hear it from their waiting place.

April's hands flew over the keyboard using the connection to the Foot tower that Donny had been able to gain when getting the blueprints. "The side door is unlocked guys. You're good to go." 

"Be careful, my sons," Splinter spoke through his own headset. He knew his sons where skilled, but nothing rivaled a father's worry.

.…

"Thanks, April." Leo jumped down the three feet to street level, his brothers right behind him, worry for Mikey and Casey on his mind. Their distraction was risky, but by convincing Mikey to lock one of the side doors, he was less worried of them becoming overwhelmed. "Join us as soon as you can, Mikey," he whispered into the headset.

"Will do, Leo!" Mikey's excited voice whispered across the line.

Leo paused at the door, gripping the handle tightly. He took a deep breath to center himself and pulled it slightly open, ignoring the screaming warning siren. Seeing no one, he motioned to Raph and Don to follow him in, closing the door behind themselves.

"Ok guys, there's going to be a stairwell to your right, take that up eight floors and then we'll have to switch stairwells. The vents for this floor are off limits for now as they have pressure censoring them."

Leo nodded to April's words coming through their headsets, heading to the stairwell. He pulled his katana out of their sheaths, tightening his grip around the handles. This was it. He would not let this go wrong. He wouldn't let the ninjas taunt him about what happened. He had a family to look after. His mind had to stay clear, focused.

Ascending the stairs, the trio expected to run into some ninjas, but so far the coast was clear. They went up floor by floor, quiet but determined. Breaking through to the eighth floor, they flung the door open and a crowd of ninjas were running towards them.

"Was wondering when we'd see some of these bozos," Raph grunted, charging forward, sai twirling through his fingers.

"Yeah well, we'll take care of them no problem," Don spoke confidently, Bo out and swinging upward for his first attack.

Leo slashed through the blade of the first ninja, kicking him out of the way as he met the next one head on.

"Hey look, it's the blue one," one ninja snickered, swinging his blade at the turtle.

"Ya think we can have some more fun with him," another ninja snickered, jump kicking the blue turtle in the back. "You know cuz he liked it so much."

Leo blocked the first attack and dropped down to avoid most of the blow from the kick. He rolled to the right, trying to block the voices of the ninjas. They deserved no answer from him.

"We'll have him purring again, begging his mortal enemy for more pleasure."

"He'll scream our names."

"Cry out for the sheer enjoyment of being held down and screwed over like our little toy that he is."

Leo breathed out in frustration of their taunting, swinging his blade to the right, knocking one ninja out, swinging his leg to hit another in the chest. "I am no one's toy!" He ground out, jumping up and mule kicking the third one into the wall.

He stood breathing hard, gripping his katana tightly enough to make his knuckles pale slightly when he looked down at them. He slowly turned around, seeing the other ninjas unconscious at his brother's feet.

"You go, bro!" Raph grinned. "Don't let 'em get to ya."

Don high fived him. "We have to hurry though."

"Right," Leo nodded, touching the headset to activate it again. "Where to next, April?" 

"Follow the hallway to the next stairwell. Go up three floors and then on that landing there will be a vent entrance. Use it to go up another three floors which will give you access to the elevator and then to Shredder's penthouse floor."

"Thanks April," Leo replied, motioning his brothers forward. It was almost time to face the Shredder.

.…

Mikey slung his nunchuku at the ninja on his left. They had taken out the first twenty ninjas and fifteen more poured into the room. Their only consolation was the door behind them had not given out just yet.

"Where's your brother?" One ninja asked in glee.

"Yeah, we want to play some more," another one behind the orange turtle spoke excitedly.

"The Master sure did enjoy the show," another admitted.

Mikey swung again, his nunchuck slugging one ninja in the temple, the sound of bone shattering echoing through the fight. "Never talk about my brother like that again," he ground out in determination.

"Yeah or you'll get hell to pay," Casey agreed, sweeping three off their feet just as the door crashed open behind them.

The orange turtle slugged the last ninja in front of him down with a fast dragon kick before turning towards the new thirty ninjas. "I'm about ready to join the others," he whispered to Casey, panting hard. "How about you, Casey?"

"Same here, buddy. Say the word and I'm right behind you."

Mikey nodded, charging forward, ducking under one ninja, slipping out of reach of another ninja, and kicking the third ninja down and out with a round house kick. His nunchuck became a blur as he jumped and spun around the new band of ninjas. He could hear Casey's fun as they quickly made their way through the ninja. He slammed a high kick into the side of the final ninja's head and ran for one of the side doors. "Come on Casey," he yelled to the man behind him. "Where are we going, April?"

"Thank goodness you're still ok," April breathed.

"You are uninjured?" Splinter asked.

"Yeah Sensei, we're totally good," Mikey panted, running towards a door and flinging it open to reveal a staircase.

"Great," April cheered. "So go up three flights on your current staircase, across the hallway, and up another three flights. You'll then join your brothers and up through a ventilation shaft that will take you to the elevator to Shredder's floor." 

"Thanks Ape," Casey grinned at Mikey as they sped up the stairs. It was time to make the Shredder pay for the humiliation that they had put Leo through. No one messed with his friends and got away with it.

…

The group moved in and were met with a cloud of black as the Foot ninjas raced to find out where the fire was located. They didn't seem to notice the small group enter the building. Leonardo led the way through the crowd to the hallways. Raph noticed they were headed in the direction to the place that Leo had been tortured.

"Leo, are you..."

Leo spun around before Raph could finish talking.

"Don't question my actions, Raphael. We have a job to do and I plan on making these assholes pay for what they did to me! If you don't like it, then go help Casey and Mikey! Otherwise, shut the hell up!"

Raph could hear the anger and venom in his brother's words as well as in his voice. It was a tone he knew and he knew that if he argued then their cover would be blown.

Moving down the long hall he made his way silently with his two younger brothers in tow.

Raphael and Donatello were following close behind when Donnie noticed something on one of the doors... he nudged Raph and said in a hushed voice over the sound of the alarm still blaring.

"Is that blood?"

Raph shrugged and said. "Probably. This is where we were kept, this is where Leo was taken."

Donnie nodded and kept walking behind his older brothers.

Leonardo suddenly stopped, forcing his brothers to nearly run into him, he spun around and told them.

"OK, the plan is, you two take out the Foot, I will deal with Shredder."

Raph frowned and told him. "Wait, I thought it was going to be all four of us, plus Casey?"

Leo smirked at him and said.

"Mikey and Casey were to cause some confusion so that we could get this far, if we faced all of the Foot then... well we would not walk out of here alive. If things get too hairy, then call Splinter and April, they will be on standby. Don, I want you to go to the left, Raph to the right. I am going straight for Shredder, when Mike and Casey get here, they know what to do from there."

Raph nodded and decided that was probably the best bet on a plan, sort of a Plan B if it were.

Leo took out his swords and got in position. He saw three Foot and motioned for his brothers to take them down.

Once Raph and Donnie had them down they went into the large open room. Leo recognized it as the room where he had been forced to fight until he was bleeding and nearly broken.

There was a small amount of Foot in the room and Shredder was in the center.

Going in their assigned directions, Leo watched as Shredder didn't even bat an eye as he raced up to him.

"So Leonardo, you managed to come back? I hope you enjoyed your vacation."

Leo frowned and held his swords at the ready, he noticed his brothers had nearly defeated the small amount of ninjas.

"Huh, not many guards in here?"

Shredder frowned at him and said with certainty.

"I have no need for them to defeat you, Leonardo."

Leo felt burning hatred for this man ignite in his stomach. He remembered everything that this man had done to him, what he allowed to be done to him. The days without food or water, the severe beatings he endured in here. The blood he lost in this room...

Leo closed his eyes briefly and took in a breath, trying to control himself, he opened his eyes and charged forward.

The battle was on and swords clanged throughout the room. Once the Foot ninjas were defeated, Raph and Donnie stood at ready to help their brother.

Leonardo flipped over his mortal enemy and managed to slice his back with his katana, Shredder cried out as he spun around and blocked the next attack.

The taller man was faster and sliced Leo in the arm; Leo didn't feel it due to the adrenaline rush going on in his body. Leo had had enough of this fight, he swung his blades faster and faster, at a blinding speed and then it happened.

Leo saw it happen in slow motion as his own katana pierced Shredder directly into the heart. He watched as Shredder's brown eyes went wide and then start to shut as the two hit the floor. Blood poured from the wound on the chest. Leonardo looked down at his enemy as his sword stuck out of Shredder's chest.

Raph came up behind his brother and said. "You did it, bro... you took out the Shredder! Come on, we gotta go help the others."

Just then, Casey and Mikey came into the room with about two men in each fist, Leo recognized all four as the ones who had tortured him to no end.

Casey spoke up first.

"Leo, we thought you'd like the honor of dealing with these assholes."

Leo walked up to the one that had raped him and said with pure venom in his voice. "Shackle them. Raph, Don, go find more and chain them. These bastards are going to get a taste of their own medicine..."

About fifteen minutes later, Leonardo was standing in the very room he had been originally in when he came to this god forsaken place with three men chained to the wall. He held his blood stained katana to one of their throats and said.

"So, how do you want to die? Should I make it slow? Or quick?"

Raphael walked up behind him and said to his brother. "Can I have the one by the far wall?"

Leo looked over at the mentioned Foot member and saw it was the one that beat him severely. "Have at it. Don, do you have a preference?"

Donnie stepped back and said. "Leo..., I know what these men did to you was horrible, but..."

Leo spun around and stared at his younger brother. "Then go to the Battle Shell if you feel that way."

Don shook his head and stayed in the room.

One of the men grinned and said.

"What a freakin coward, such a weakling."

Donnie felt a sudden surge of rage as he ran up to the man with his Bo and cracked him upside the head hard enough to nearly knock him out.

Leo smirked at him and turned to the one who had raped him and then turned back to Raphael.

"Raph, I believe you wanted your own act of revenge on this one?"

Raph felt his blood boil as he looked at the Foot soldier that gave his baby brother nightmares and scarred Leo for life.

Walking up past Leo, he said to the man. "Maybe we should really show him how it feels to be violated?"

Donnie spoke up. "Don't stoop to their level, Raph..."

"Can it, Brainiac!"

Turning back to the man, Raph ran his sai against the man's face and said, "Oh, I am going to have so much fun with you." Turning to his remaining brothers, he said, "Can we be alone for a moment? And Leo shut those two up before you leave."

Walking over with gags, Leo made sure they couldn't cry out and told Raph as he left the room. "Have fun. And do something that I wouldn't do..."

Raphael smiled at his older brother before turning back to the now terrified man before him.

Raph walked closer to him and said, "So how did it feel to take advantage of my brother? His body broken and weak? His spirit same as broken? And here you did things to him that only a devil would do! Guess what... now it's payback time!"

Raphael took his sai and raked it down the man's arm, slicing the black fabric that covered his arm and said, "I ain't even close to bein done with you yet."

Using the sharp tip of his sai, he sliced away the man's clothing; all was left was his underwear.

Raph thought about his next move and said, "Don't worry... I wouldn't dare do to you what you did to my brother... Besides, I would have to boil myself if I did..."

Raph sliced the man's chest with his sai; he watched the blood run down his chest. He made a few more marks then ran it along the man's thigh and caused more cuts to appear. Though the man was gagged, Raph could see the panic in the man's eyes.

Raph smiled evilly as he sliced away the only shred of clothing left, leaving the man totally exposed.

"Huh... so that is what a human man looks like? Kinda pathetic if you ask me."

He took his sai and brought it down quick at the man's appendage. He jumped just as Raph teased him and said, "Made ya flinch."

Then he did it, Raph cut the man where it counted. He watched the blood run and he picked his foot up and kicked him hard in the nuts. It was enough to make the man leave the ground momentarily.

Raph felt rage boil up inside of him as he remembered what he was forced to watch... the pain he saw in Leo's face... the turmoil...

Raph punched the guy in the stomach and then kicked him again repeated times in the groin, the man eventually passed out from pain.

Raph walked over and picked up Donnie's Bo that his brother had left in the room and walked back over to the man and hit him more.

Before Raph knew it, the man hung limp, with his arms nearly out of their sockets from his dead weight. Breathing heavily, he said to the now deceased man, "Rot in hell, you bastard."

Using a piece of cloth from the floor, he wiped his brother's weapon off and went to the door and opened it. He stepped out and told Leo.

"Leo, I got my revenge, now it's your turn."

Leo went in and saw the bloody dead man hanging by his arms. Taking his katana, he sliced the chain and the man dropped to the ground. He turned to the others and sliced them repeatedly with his swords, causing them to bleed from every part of their body.

He left the room then to join everyone else. Donnie looked at his older brothers and had to ask Raph, "Raph, you didn't? With my Bo, did you?"

Raph shrugged and said.

"What, shove it up his ass? No, then we would have to burn your Bo and I didn't want that to happen. I thought about it, but I didn't do it. God knows I wanted to shove something up his ass to show him how much it hurt Leo."

Mikey grinned and said. "The two in the next room were the ones who put the rod in his penis..."

The group went into the next room and Raph said. "I have my own plan... be right back."

The three remaining turtles stood before the men and one said. "So Leonardo, I see you're still standing? Did you enjoy the little pleasure trip we sent you on? You got turned on and you know it."

Leo walked up to the man and backhanded him hard enough that the man's head went to the side hard.

Raphael re-entered the room and said, "Mike, out, Don, same for you. Stay in the hall with Casey. What we're gonna do, I don't want you two to see."

That was when Donnie noticed what was in Raphael's hand: the metal rod... the one that was used on Leo... he took Mikey by the arm and led him out of the room.

After the door was shut, they both turned back to the man and Raph said, "Since you seem to think Leo enjoyed that sooo much... why don't you try it out for size? See how 'turned on' you get?"

Before the man could protest, Leo cut the man's pants away and Leo held his hand over the man's mouth while Raph inserted the tube rather hard into the man's own penis and left it there. Blood trickled to the floor around the rod.

Leo removed his hand and the man screamed in pain. The more the man moved the more he screamed. After a minute or two, Raph removed it and said to the man.

"Ok, now, the last time I knew my brother was a boy... so when you stuck that dildo in him it was up his ass... so let's see... where does this go again?"

Pulling from his belt he had the dildo in his hand, no lube, Leo turned the man enough for Raph to shove it up the man's butt. He howled in pain.

"I thought you said Leo enjoyed it? You said it turned him on? You look pretty damn miserable to me. You like the taste of your own medicine?"

The tears flowed out of the man's face as the pain continued. Raph punched the man hard in the gut and then said to Leo. "Got anything else you wanna add to this?"

Leo walked up and kicked the man hard in the heavily bleeding groin and said, "Ya like that? Cause I sure as shit didn't like it when you did all of this to me! Payback's a bitch, ya asshole!"

The man screamed again, this time howling in pain.

Raph walked up to him again and slapped him so hard his head went to the side hard, a light crack could be heard and the man went limp.

Leo walked over to the last one and punched and kicked him to no end before the man died as well.

They walked out to the hallway where the others were standing, waiting. Donnie saw tears of relief in his brother's eyes and said. "It's over now, Leo. It is over..."

Together they walked out of that hell hole and went home with their family. Leo was happy that the battle with Shredder was over.


	24. Chapter 24

Epilogue: Reflections

After they got home, there was a lightness in the air that made the family feel better, that what had happened wouldn’t happen again. 

Don was glad that he hadn’t done what Leo and Raph had done, but he knew that his brothers had had to teach those scumbags their lessons. Mikey was happy he hadn’t seen them do it either. It would have given him horrific nightmares. 

April and Casey had gone home for the night, but Casey had had a great time helping fight Leo’s tormentors. He had left the lair with a grin on his face and he was telling April about some of the highlights of the evening. 

Leo would often feel regret for doing some certain things that he couldn’t change, but this time, he hadn’t. Those men had deserved everything they got because of what they had done to him. And it is a possibility that they had even done it to other humans as well. He felt the score had been settled with them and even more so with the Shredder. The Shredder had tortured hundreds of poor souls throughout his years. It had been time for his tyranny to end. 

Raph knew he felt no regret for what he had done. His hatred for those men had been fueled by not only thoughts of what Leo went through, but also his love for his brother. And what could have possibly happened to any of his other brothers too. 

Master Splinter had only been on standby this time, but he saw that his sons were not hurt very badly. They were fine for the most part. But he really hoped that his eldest didn’t feel like he had tainted his soul for what he had done. Killing was never easy to do, but with enemies like the Foot, sometimes for them, it was necessary. 

Splinter walked into the living room to see Leonardo staring at the blank TV screen and said, "My son, what troubles you?"

Looking up, Leonardo replied, "Do you think Raph and I did the right thing? I mean we tortured those scum bags just like they did me. The only difference is we killed them in the end." 

Splinter sat down with his eldest son and said, "My son, it is never easy to take another's life, but Raphael wanted so badly to make things right for you. I know allowing your younger brother to do what he did was hard on you, but remember I am proud of you for not allowing Donatello and Michelangelo to see what you had done, though they could probably hear it." 

Leonardo looked sideways at his father and asked truthfully, "Are you ashamed of us for doing what we did?" 

Splinter put a hand on his shoulder and told him, "Though it wasn't an honorable act, I purposely allowed the four of you to do this mission. I could see it out at the farmhouse that was the only way your spirit was going to heal. Honor played a part of this, my son. Shredder had none, but you do. I know, to act that way, goes against everything I have ever taught you about honor but... if it means I get my sons back... then well, I was willing to ignore our family's honor for one evening." 

Raphael came up behind them and said, "I wasn’t thinkin bout honor when I shoved that rod where the sun don’t shine. I just wanted my older brother back, and if that meant doing something rash, then I was all for it. I am just glad that dis is all ova now." 

Donatello came from the kitchen hearing the conversation, Mikey close on his heels.

Donatello spoke up.

"I know I am not one for violence, but it felt good to take out the Shredder as well as hearing what was happening from behind that door. I felt some sort of pride for Leo when he took those jerks’ lives. I can sleep better knowing that those idiots are gone for good and can’t hurt anyone ever again." 

Mikey remained silent while his older brothers talked; he had mixed feelings about what had taken place. 

Splinter looked over at his youngest son and asked, "Are you alright, my son?"

They all turned to Michelangelo and waited for him to speak.

Mikey looked away for a moment, but then said, "It’s all good, at least those asses won’t be around anymore to torture anyone else."

Splinter told his sons, "Very true. It is all over now. We can rest and be grateful that it won’t happen again."   
……..

That night Leo laid awake in bed. He just couldn’t shut his mind off. He kept going over what he had done. The screams of those men echoed in his head and try as he might, he couldn’t shut them out. 

Rolling over onto his plastron, Leo covered his head with his pillow. Questions started to roll around in his head. Was he justified in his actions? 

The sound of his door opening pulled Leo from his thoughts. Pulling his head out from under his pillow, Leo looked up to see who it was. Mikey stood in the doorway, looking down at Leo. “You okay?”

“I don’t know,” Leo said truthfully. “I’m starting to have doubts.”

Mikey stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. He made his way across the cold floor and crawled into bed with Leo. It was something Mikey used to do when they were younger and he had had a nightmare. 

The brothers shifted until they were able to comfortably squeeze together on the bed. “This was a lot easier when we were younger,” Mikey quipped. 

“It’s your fault,” Leo teased. “You’ve gotten fat.”

Mikey chuckled and curled up against Leo. They lay in silence for a while before Mikey said, “You are the most honorable person I know. Even after what happened today. Do I like what you did? No. Do I think there was another way? Yes. But what’s done is done and I don’t think less of you for doing it. What happened to you was horrible and you did what you thought you had to do.”

“Thank you, Mikey,” Leo whispered. 

“Killing someone shouldn’t be easy,” Mikey continued. “The fact that you feel guilt and are questioning it means that you are still a good person. If you were completely okay with everything then that would mean that you were completely lost to us forever. I know that I will get my brother back. You might not be exactly the same but you will still be you.”

Pulling Mikey closer, Leo cried silently as he took comfort in his brother’s words. “It’s okay,” Mikey soothed. “Everything is going to be okay. The world has one less bad guy to worry about. That makes all of this worth it.”  
.......

Raph beat his fists on the punching bag. His stomach was in knots and he didn’t like the way it made him feel. He kept telling himself that he had done the right thing, but it didn’t make the fact that he took a man’s life any easier. He wondered if he had taken it too far; that maybe he just should have simply killed them without stooping to their level. But in that moment he had been fueled by anger and it all seemed right at the time. 

He thought about what his father had said and wondered if he had covered up his disappointment in them. Raph hated to have his father disappointed in him. 

As he continued to pound on the bag, Donatello entered the room. He watched Raph work himself into exhaustion before approaching him. “Take this,” he said, holding out two pills and a bottle of water. 

“What is it?” Raph asked, taking the pills. 

“Melatonin,” Don answered. “It should calm you down enough so you can sleep.” Before Raph could say anything, Don cut him off. “You killed people. I know you felt justified in doing it, but that still doesn’t make it easy to accept. Your mind is still processing what you have done. I just want you to know that I’m here for you. Okay?”

“Thank you, Don,” Raph mumbled, keeping his eyes on the floor. “It means a lot.”

“Come on,” Don held out his hand for Raph to take. “Mikey is spending the night comforting Leo. The least I can do is do the same for you.”

Raph scoffed, “That’s gay.”

“Shut up,” Don chuckled. “Come on.”

Donatello led the way up to Raph’s room and they both managed to squeeze into the hammock. Raph did his best to keep from crying, but Don encouraged him to let it out. 

Knowing what he knew now and if given the chance to do it again, Raph would have done it all the same. They deserved it for what they had done. He just hated the fact that it was something that he had had to do. He did find comfort in knowing that they would never hurt anyone else and that it was a guilt that he had to live with, not his brothers.   
......

The turtles and Splinter went on about their daily lives and were all healing from what had happened to Leonardo. They knew that they were all safe from the Shredder now, but there would always be enemies out there that could make appearances anytime. They just had to watch out for them, and be ready the best they could. 

It wasn't a perfect world and never would be, but they would always have each other to see and support their family through the hard times and the good times. But most of all, they all felt they had restored their family’s honor, especially Leo’s, for taking out their worst enemies. 

The End


End file.
